Advent Children: The Crusade
by Nerdstradamus
Summary: [Sequel to "Black & White"; AU.] War, deception, betrayal, blood. Eight heroes, divided paths; one purpose. Nothing is as it seems. Chapter 4: Pending Tseng's murder investigation, the Turks try to return to normality; after Barret and Cloud are released from prison, the latter confronts Tifa; Tara and Vincent prepare to make landfall in Costa del Sol.
1. Hysteria

**Final Fantasy VII Advent Children**

 **The Crusade**

 _Being the second volume of the "Black & White" saga._

* * *

 **A note from the author:** Welcome back one and all, to another installment of the affectionately named "Black & White" saga. For those new readers who have no clue what I'm talking about, it's obviously strongly encouraged that you go back and read "Black & White" or you'll be very lost indeed!

For this work, I'm hoping to bring more drama, more plot twists, a new character or three, just to keep things interesting. As written in the "credits roll" of the other story, nothing is indeed as it seems, but what that implies shall of course remain a surprise.

Unlike the other story, wherein it started as a "T" rating and gradually moved to an "M" rating, this one shall be mature right out of the gate. Ye have been warned. Second, some of the events that take place may seem to happen at... erratic times. One scene might be taking place presently, and the next scene involving separate characters might be happening several hours after or before. I'll try and make all events concurrent so as to avoid confusion. Thirdly, despite the fact I don't necessarily aspire to be a professional writer, I now like to try and write like one. As such, these author's notes will likely be very few and far between.

And finally, I would like to thank not only the followers of this tale, but also all of these iconic characters we all know and love, and my own original ones, for taking part in this alternate, bloody and brutal reality I've forced them into. Shall we get this show on the road at last?

Yes we shall.

* * *

 **-Chapter 1-**

 **Hysteria**

* * *

 _I spoke to God today, and she said that she's ashamed; what have I become, what have I done? I spoke to the Devil today, and he swears he's not to blame; and I understand because I feel the same._

 _Arms wide open, I stand alone. I'm no hero and I'm not made of stone, right or wrong I can hardly tell. I'm on the wrong side of Heaven, and the righteous side of Hell._

 _I heard from God today, and she sounded just like me; what have I done and who have I become? I saw the Devil today, and he looked a lot like me. I looked away, I turned away._

* * *

Cait's tiny body bounced up and down as the military jeep hit another pothole, its tiny hands grasping the small video device in front of it. Upon the screen were Reeve and Rufus, with Cloud and the others in the background.

" _Son of a bitch_!" Cid swore over the video feed, " _Where? What kinda weapons?_ "

Cait shook it's head, "I dunno, lad! Very hush hush information! I'm workin' on it though!" Cait replied.

" _The better question would be where the silver-haired man is getting all of his recruits from,_ " Cloud pondered.

"Aye, that too!" Cait agreed. Just then, the feed began to crackle, pop, with lines of static shooting across the screen. "Ah, afraid I'm about ta lose ye all, we're getting closer to tha Canyon!"

" _Just keep me informed, Cait_ ," Reeve said.

"Aye, boss-man! Over and out!" Then it clicked the tiny device off and set it aside.

"Any good news, sir?" The soldier sitting across from the toy asked.

Again Cait shook his head, "'Fraid not, lad! Looks like we're in some dire straits indeed!"

"At least you and Tseng found out where that Wutai girl is being held prisoner?" The soldier offered.

"A small cog in a great machine!" Cait replied, "T'is goof that hopefully a friend'll be rescued soon, but... many more things to worry about!"

For a few minutes, the only sounds came from the rumbling engine and the occasional clink as a loose pebble was kicked back by the vehicle in front of their own. Finally, the soldier asked, "You think Chief Nanaki will help us?"

"We can only hope, lad..." Cait said, but with little hope in it's voice, "...but who knows what's happened this far since all this started? An' why 'aven't we heard from Red XIII since?"

"Red XIII, sir?"

"Ah, Nanaki! Red XIII was a test subject name... years ago!" Cait corrected itself.

"What test..."

"Ne'ermind, lad! Focus on tha' task at hand!"

It had been a long few weeks for the wayward toy agent, jumping and traveling from town to town, always preaching the same propaganda at the request of Reeve. Sometimes people listened, and sometimes they didn't. But the last couple of towns had shown great success, with much of the population boarding the next ship back to Edge for military training. A sliver of hope had arisen then, and it was predicted that, if the toy continued to have that success rate at every alternate stop, they would outnumber the Brotherhood three to one!

"Any family back home, lad?" Cait suddenly asked.

The soldier, another twenty-something year old male, nodded, "Mom and girlfriend, we live... well, lived outside of Kalm. Mom always liked to visit the chocobo farm, even wanted me to be a chocobo rancher so she could have her own!"

Cait snickered, though not cruelly, "They're majestic animals to be sure! An' where are they now?"

The soldier shrugged, "Last I heard they were shipped out of Junon just before it was attacked. I imagine I'll have a stack of letters from them when I get back to Edge."

Cait took a moment to consider this, and that every soldier from the lowly grunt to a high ranking general... they were people, with families and loved ones. What then, about the ones fighting for the Brotherhood; did they also have friends? Family, loved ones? And why would so many flock, and continue to flock, to that horrible and dark band? More questions than answers, Cait thought with a snort.

"Ye'll see 'em again soon, lad! I jus' know it!" The toy cat sprang to it's feet, then peeked over the door to look out the window, "Oi... is it jus' me, or are we slowin' down?"

As if in answer, the entire line of twelve or so trucks came to a sudden screeching halt, Cait being thrown into the floorboard with a thump. "Bloody hell, what'n tha' hell!" It complained, brushing itself off after.

A voice came over the intercom of the jeep then, "Commander Sith, we have a problem."

Cait hopped over the front seats and placed a small, specially made headset onto it's head, "Ya damn right, lad! What's goin' on? Why've we stopped?"

"Check your monitor, sir," Came the reply. Cait retrieved the previously discarded video monitor, and clicked it on, tuning it to the given frequency. What it saw, coming from the very head of the convoy, was the red landscape completely cracked and nearly destroyed. Deep and dried ruts littered the entire road, what wasn't upturned hunks of rock were coated in deep, wide fissures, making passage via any way but on foot impossible.

"Samhell!" Cait exclaimed, "What'n the hell did all this?"

"Orders, sir?"

Cait then flopped into a sitting position and had to think about this carefully. They were all under strict orders to make it to Cosmo Canyon to enlist Nanaki and his tribes into action, but now what? How would the higher ups react, if it informed them of the present situation?

"An' there's no other way around?" Cait asked.

"None that wouldn't take several days of backtracking and long detours, sir." Came the reply over the speaker.

"An' how long would it take us ta' reach tha' Canyon on foot from here?"

There was a pause, as the information was retrieved via satellite projection, "A day, maybe a day and a half, sir."

Unfortunately, there was no other choice. Cait stood back up, "Gear up an' lock an' load, lads! Hope ye' all had yer wheaties this mornin'!"

The next hour consisted of the troops gathering up guns, double checking equipment, and stashing as much ammunition as each man and woman could carry into their packs. It was close to midday, the sun hanging near dead center of the sky, and was for lack of a better term, scorching. The dried cracked landscape did not look any more inviting, and many of the soldiers had already begun to sweat. Cait made an extra point that it might be wiser to carry more water overall than firepower. After all, Cait knew full well that dehydration would kill just as quickly as a bullet or a monster.

"Right, lads! Tha' Canyon ain't gonna come ta' us!" Cait proclaimed with one of its trademark megaphones, only to hop on a soldier's shoulder, "Mind if I hitch a ride, lass?"

The female soldier smiled, "It'd be an honor, Commander Sith."

"Please, jus' Cait will do, lass!"

"Right, lock the vehicles up tight!" Another soldier announced, "And hopefully they'll still be in one piece when we get back!"

After a quick and final check was made, the troop of thirty soldiers turned, and started across the wilderness.

* * *

Hours passed with no telltale signs of life, and so much of the march had been spent with pointless small talk from one soldier to another, with Cait often conversing with one soldier, scrambling down and darting across to ride on the shoulder of another, and doing the same. Now it sat upon the shoulder of the female, of whom he piggy-backed with when the troop first departed from their vehicles.

"So, lass! Any family waitin' fer ya back home?"

"Just my little sister," The woman replied, "She's only ten."

"Yer' ma and pa?" Cait inquired.

"Both died in Junon," She said with a sadness, "Mom was a doctor, dad was a lieutenant. Guess the military life kinda runs in the family, you know?"

Cait's ears drooped, it's facial features obviously sad, "I'm so sorry, lass, truly..." It then made a sound akin to a sigh, "Tha' Brotherhood are ruthless, uncaring! They'd kill their own mothers if they were told to!"

"Yeah," The female soldier replied sharply, not wanting to hear it.

"What about yer' sister? Ya said tha' military life runs in the family?"

The woman scoffed, "After what happened to our parents... the things I've seen..." She paused, looking down at her marching feet, "I was at Junon too. My sister will never be in the military. _Never_."

"An' does she know what happened to yer' parents?"

"It took myself and three people to pry her off me when I was deployed with the squad, sir."

Most would argue that Cait was not human, and thus should not feel human emotion. However, it felt an overwhelming sadness like it had never known before. It struck Cait then, like a thousand thousand Meteors. In war, no one seemed to entirely care about the ones that died... sure, some feel terrible for the loss of the life, and have sympathy for their loved ones... but no one ever truly knows. The scars of war run deep, whether it be a soldier or a common citizen, and like most scars, they never heal. With no family of it's own, aside from it's creators to speak of, Cait knew no family, and thus did not have such things to be sad for. But it took after Reeve, wondering for just a moment if it were physically possible for it to cry?

"I don't want ye ta' think I was the cause of yankin' ya away from yer' sister, lass! I can have ya sent back to..."

"No, I want to be here," The soldier cut the toy off, "They killed my parents, loved ones, friends, countless innocents... I want to stop them however I can."

Cait considered the woman's words, "Revenge, lass? Anger makes us do things we later regret!"

"I was raised to never have regrets, sir. And I have none." Here, she finally looked up at the toy cat, "Please. I want to be here."

Cait eventually nodded, "Very well, lass. I'll make sure ya' get back ta' yer sister!" It held up it's index and middle finger, "Scout's honor!" It then scampered off and re-joined the original male soldier, whom was sitting with it in the jeep.

Another hour of nonstop marching passed, when the troop came upon a small cluster of trees. The bark was gnarled and dead, the trunks twisting one way and then another, with sparse shade to offer. But with little to no better options in sight on the horizon, it was decided that such was a good place to rest.

"Right, lads!" Cait again sprang up with a megaphone, "Let's rest an' refuel here! Cosmo Canyon can't be much further after this!"

The thirty soldiers then spread out, most simply flopping down on their rumps into the dusty ground, and draining half of their water jugs right then. Others fanned out, weapons held close, and scanning the area around them. It seemed secluded enough, with several dells and spires of upraised rock surrounding them. They were essentially tucked away into a small valley, with only two easy ways in and out; the direction from where they came, and the only other path out. Some of the soldiers expressed worries that, were they attacked, they might be in a bad situation. However, still others retorted that they hadn't seen any signs of life since entering this particular region, and not so much as a gust of wind since setting out on foot.

"Have you ever been this far west, sir?" A soldier asked.

Cait shook it's head, downing a tiny orange vial, making a satisfied sound after, "Not in a long time, lad!"

"Anything we should know? It seems... quiet, but _too_ quiet, you know?"

The toy shrugged, "Praise our continued good fortune! Though it does seem a bit strange that we haven't seen the first monster..."

On the other side of the makeshift camp, a pair of female soldiers were trading small talk, when something caught the corner of one's eye. She turned in that direction, gun raised, to watch a small kick up of dust and sliding pebbles.

"What's wrong?" The other asked.

"We're not alone," The first responded, "Go tell Commander Sith,"

When the second female soldier darted away, the first one slowly started towards the base of the hill, near where the dust was disturbed. Carefully she placed one foot in front of the other, trying to remain as silent as possible. Eyes scanned left and then right, when a sudden sound caused her to jerk to her left, to see another group of small rocks sliding down the path, but she was almost certain she caught sight of some... thing, a tail perhaps, dart behind a cluster of rocks. She went on high alert then, yanking back a small lever, her gun _click-clacking_ and readied to fire. The woman picked up her pace then, and hurried around the rock formation in an attempt to get the jump on the beast. She sucked in a breath and threw herself around the final turn... and there was nothing there. Closer examining the ground, there were four marks in the ground, paw prints, like that of a mountain cat or some like feline.

"What kind of mountain lion could live in a region like this?" She whispered to herself; she never saw the barbed tail raise from above another rock face behind her.

At that moment, Cait came riding on the shoulders of another soldier, ten more following behind them. It stood up then, and yelled into it's megaphone, "Oi! Lass! Get the hell out o' there now!"

The unfortunate woman shot to her feet and whirled around, just in time to see a pair of flaring, glowing yellow eyes and powerful jaws clamp around her face, and bite clear through flesh and bone.

The others on the ground never saw it, but heard the satisfying, throaty growls of the creature, and the sickening sounds of flesh being rent and stripped away. Dust bellowed from behind the rock, and loose pebbles were kicked this way and that. The soldiers cocked their own guns, and fanned out even further.

"Damnation..." Cait gasped, followed by a loud roar that bounced off the rocks around them.

Then the beast hopped onto the boulder and roared a second time. It was a manticore, it's scales a deep rustic red, almost orange color. It's front paws, main, jaws, and chest were stained with dripping blood from the recent kill. It fanned out it's bat wings, the scorpion tail sticking straight into the air. Unlike the manticores rumored to roam the northern regions, this one was barely the size of a medium sized vehicle; an adolescent, Cait assumed.

"Don't let it's size fool ye, everyone! Manticores are terrible foes no matter what size they are!" Cait called out.

"It's only one!" One soldier yelled, "And there's thirty of us! Shouldn't take long; we'll be in Cosmo Canyon before the sun goes down!"

Right then, the manticore roared a third time, and there came the sound of scuffling feet and scraping noises all around them. By now, the remaining soldiers joined the original group and clustered tight around each other in a tight circle, with Cait Sith in the middle. Skeletal hands suddenly jutted up from the ground, pulling still half rotted corpses from the dry sand. Scorpions the size of large dogs scuttled out from hidden crevices in the rock, hissing terrible noises and clicking their pincers together. But the worst thing was a dark form sweeping across the sky, a small shadow that blocked out the sun for only a moment. It was a second manticore, this one only slightly smaller than the first, and it's own scales a pale creamy color; clearly a female. She roared her own sound, and the original joined in the noise.

"Samhell!" Cait swore, "Mates! We must'a stumbled into their nest!"

"Orders, sir!"

"What tha' hell d'ya mean 'orders' son!" Cait panicked, "Kill 'em! Charge! Attaaaaaaack!"

The sounds of gunfire quickly drowned out all other sound, and when the manticores were fired upon, they flared their wings out and took to the sky. Cait scurried up a soldier's body, vaulting itself off the man's head to soar through the air. It's tiny fists and feet sparked and crackled with electricity, and once it landed with a solid sound, bolts of lightning shot out in all directions, singing the zombie-like corpses shuffling towards them. Another zombie continued to stalk forward, wielding a rusty hand ax. It swung, Cait merely ducking and grabbing onto the monster's arm.

"Ally-oop!" It giggled.

The force through the toy upward and around, Cait using the leverage to land on the monster's shoulders, gripping the head and twisting as hard as it could. The head separated easily enough, the rest of the body tumbling into a pile of bones. The toy landed then, and held the skeletal head in one hand, the other resting on it's hips, "Ta' be, or not ta' be!" It chuckled.

But then the skeletal head's jaws began to rapidly snap shut then open again, _clickclickclickclickclick!_

" **ACK!** Mother o' tha' gods!" Cait screeched, and hurled the still living head away. That head connected with another advancing skeleton, and on impact both shattered like glass.

Cait stood there a moment, blinking several times, "All's well that ends well!" Then turned and ran the opposite direction. Before it got very far, a large (at least, large compared to it's own punitive form) figure slammed down directly in front of it, kicking up dirt and dust. Cait barely had time to backflip to safety when a scorpion's barb struck the ground where it had been sitting. But rather than one of the mutant scorpions, there came a flare of yellow eyes behind the dust cloud, and a throaty growl.

The beast then stalked from behind the dusty veil, rusty red scales glinting in the sun; the male.

"Eh heh... heh heh... easy thar' now, pussycat! I'm a cat too, see!" Cait then sunk down onto all fours and tried to roar, but instead sounded more akin to a screeching feline in heat.

That only angered the beast, who thrust its deadly barb down to strike the toy. Cait moved away at the last moment, formulated a plan, and latched onto the end of the tail. When the manticore withdrew its tail, it began to thrash around, digging deep ruts in the ground and flicking it's tail wildly. But Cait held on with all the strength it had,

"Blooodyyy heeeeeell!" It screamed, "Oi! Oi! Somebody help me out here!"

"Hang on, sir! I'm coming!" One soldier yelled out, and charged.

As the beast continued to thrash about, the soldier adjusted his aim several times, afraid that he would accidentally strike the toy. Finally, the manticore paused just long enough, and the soldier opened fire, emptying an entire clip into the monster's face. While the bullets barely harmed the monster, they did stun it just long enough for Cait to ball it's right fist, blue tendrils of energy quickly gathering around it. A spiked chunk of ice formed then, which the toy dug deep into the tail; the resulting howl of pain was horrible, but the beast seemed to weaken from the blow.

"Keep firin' lad! Don' worry aboot me!"

The soldier did as commanded, running this way and that, firing round after round into the monster's flanks and head. Meanwhile, Cait continued to withdraw the spiked ice sphere, only to jam it in deeper; each time a fresh fountain of black ooze erupted, until at last the barb was attached by only a thin membrane. Despite its efforts to saw off the thing, it did no good.

"Samhell..." Cait cursed again, before digging it's tiny teeth into the thick muscle. It chewed and yanked and snatched with all it's might, until at last the muscle snapped, and the poisonous barb fell from the rest of the tail. The monster screeched in pain, flinging the intruder from it's tail with a sudden violent flick, before again taking the skies, seemingly in defeat.

"Oi, good work son!" Cait said after, dusting itself off.

The soldier nodded, "Still far from over, sir,"

As if on cue, the second manticore suddenly lunged from seemingly nowhere, the deadly scorpion tail shooting out, and catching the soldier in the back. Green acidic ooze began to drop from his mouth, nose, and eye-sockets, the goo eating away at his flesh. Cait jumped away in horror, as the female beast flung the now dead soldier away. The manticore took a step forward for every one of Cait's backward, the latter holding up it's hands.

"Now, now, lassie..." Cait tried to reason, "There's no need fer' this ta' get ugly. Can't we talk this out?"

Only then did it become apparent that the WRO were fighting a losing battle, as there were now less than twenty soldiers still fighting. To Cait's horror, more and more of the skeletal zombies and mutant scorpions continued to rise out of the sand and from behind ledges. Maybe this was the end of the journey, Cait thought, and that it's own part had been fulfilled.

"Well... come an' get me, ya great ugly beastie!" Cait bellowed.

In answer, the manticore lunged. A blazing red streak suddenly shot from the right, slamming hard into the monster and knocking it aside. Cait looked up to see the newcomer and the manticore thrash and roll around in a heap of claws and teeth, growling, snarling, and biting all the while. A pair of soldiers were at Cait's side a moment later, with the streak of red leaping away from a tail swipe, and stared the monster down, fur bristled and standing straight up.

The soldiers raised their weapons to fire upon both creatures, when Cait jumped up and down, screaming, "Hold yer' fire!"

* * *

 **~ ` ` ` [VII] ` ` ` ~**

* * *

 _~ ` ` ` [Somewhere west of Fort Condor; Brotherhood compound] ` ` ` ~_

* * *

Yuffie stirred slightly in her sleep, mumbling under her breath as she rolled over onto her opposite side. Every now and then one of her limbs would begin to twitch, as she fell deeper and deeper into her dreams.

 _She was standing in a field of flowers, white and yellow as far as could be seen. Overhead, the sky was as blue as could be, puffy white clouds lazily drifting by._

" _Where am I?" The ninja asked aloud, voice carrying off into nothing._

 _She bent down and plucked a single flower from the ground, then watched in amazement as another flower quickly grew and bloomed in place of the other. She brought the flower closer to her face, an epiphany coming to her then. These were the same flowers that bloomed in Aerith's church! She thought it odd then, that she would be having a dream like this, but she opted to enjoy it all the while. With a laugh, she began to sprint and skip through the flowers, often reaching out and grabbing handfulls of petals and throwing them into the air. Even though it was a dream, it was preferable to the real world, where she was locked in a prison cell! Yuffie even thought, only half jokingly, that if she could stay here forever until the fighting was over, she would!_

 _And then something changed; out in the distance, dark storm clouds began to gather, and barreled across the sky towards her. In a panic, she turned away and tried to run, to no avail. Soon the sky was black with thick clouds, and wide arcs of lightning lanced out from the clouds, quickly setting fire to the entire field. She screamed, looking around wildly for some form of shelter from the quickly spreading flames, but there was nothing else in this world. Resigned to her fate, Yuffie gave in... only to notice there was no heat... the flames licked at her legs and even rose well above her head... but did not burn her either._

" _What... the hell...?"_

 _Then a bolt of lightning struck her, and her whole world went white for a few blinding seconds. Just when she thought to awake in the real world, the whiteness slowly faded, her blurred vision returning. Now she was standing in a very different field, with soldiers screaming, cussing, and fighting all around her. She was up to her ankles in corpses, she squeaking in fear and bounding away. No one else seemed to pay her any mind, and to her shock, passed right through her! Suspicious, she ran over to a nearby soldier ducked behind a tree reloading his weapon, then reached out to slap him. Her hand passed right through him, and he never gave any inclination that he noticed._

" _Damn... am I dead?" She said aloud, fearfully._

 _She turned around, and noticed a ruined fortress out in the distance, and knew at once what it was... Fort Condor, which meant those around her could only be the WRO and the Brotherhood! Not so far away, she saw Cloud, swinging that freaky big sword of his and cutting swathes through the enemy ranks. She called out to him and ran over, forgetting her own circumstances. However, he did turn and seemed to look right at her, and ran towards her._

" _Cloud! Please tell me you can see me?"_

 _He swung his sword, it passing harmlessly through her entire midsection, to cleave still another militant in two._

" _Hey! Watch it, spike head!" She yelled, but still the male fighter never noticed or acknowledged her._

 _She found Tifa next, trading blows with a familiar looking foe, that psycho with the light hair! She remembered seeing his face when Tormuj and that scarred guy... Edward? Had first come to torture her. What was his name again? Rage? Riej? Reggie? She had no idea, and didn't care; she was more concerned with exactly what the hell was going on! What kind of dream was this?_

 _Then she heard a screeching, ear-splitting noise like nothing she ever heard, slapping her palms over her ears. A bright flash of light caught her attention, and she turned towards Fort Condor. Large beams of white and green light rose from the ground beneath it, while red and orange lights snaked from the very top. When the lights collided with each other, they began to whirl clockwise around the entire fort, slowly growing in size until the entire fort was concealed by light. Then the light dissipated in a shower of sparks, the fort itself coming to life! A behemoth, fiery phoenix emerged from the fort and took flight, screeching a terrible cry. Yuffie watched in amazement as the large bird banked one direction, and breathed massive walls of flame over the entire field. On contact, the Brotherhood instantly caught fire and began to scream, falling over dead a moment later; strangely, the flames did not harm nor seem to affect any of the WRO troops._

 _The great phoenix repeated this twice more, until there was nothing left but burning bodies, scorched earth... and the WRO army and their allies, all of whom began to cheer and praise the flaming bird. The phoenix passed over the field one final time, screeching an approving note, then turned and flew away into a rising sun over the ocean. Yuffie couldn't help but join in the celebration, until another thing caught her eye, flittering and glinting in the rising sun's rays. A pink ribbon wafted just above her, she reaching out to grab it._

" _Don't lose hope, Yuffie," A voice called from the skies._

" _Wha? Who's that?" Yuffie asked, looking around; still no one seemed to be talking to her. She then turned to face the fort again, and standing arm's reach away, was Aerith._

 _The woman smiled, "Things are about to change again," She said in her soft voice._

" _...Aerith...?" Yuffie whispered, shocked._

 _The flower girl nodded, "I told Cloud once that everything was going to change, before the Brotherhood attacked, you know."_

" _Aerith!" Yuffie seemed to have not heard, and threw her arms around the woman, hugging her tightly._

 _Aerith returned the embrace, but just as quick pushed her away, "Listen to me, Yuffie, I don't have much time."_

" _Wha?" Yuffie looked stricken, "Why? What's going on? Am I dead? You've talked to Cloud? How?"_

" _Focus, Yuffie! Please!" Aerith pleaded, "And once you're free, you mustn't tell anyone that we've spoken... it'll only increase his powers!"_

" _Who's?" Yuffie asked again._

 _The woman sighed, but giggled, "You haven't changed a bit, Yuffie," then reached out and gently stroked the younger girl's cheek, "I've missed your... quirky nature," she giggled again._

 _Yuffie felt tears well in her eyes, reaching up to take the woman's hand, "We all miss you too, Aerith! But what's going on?"_

" _Vincent fights for you, you know," Aerith replied quickly, "All of our friends do, but he fights the hardest. He and the woman Tara are traveling to Wutai to tell your father..."_

" _What! So Tara's alive? You're sure?" Yuffie interrupted, hastily._

" _Yes, she was going to return to Fort Condor to rescue you... you have another good friend in her, Yuffie. And in Vincent..." Aerith yet again giggled, even seemed to slightly blush, "Who knows?"_

 _Yuffie also blushed, "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you told me, Aerith! But why now? Why not sooner?"_

 _Aerith reached out and took Yuffie's hand, gripping it tightly, "Because I could feel you losing hope, Yuffie. I can't rescue you from your cell... but I can at least give you a reason to escape."_

" _How can I..."_

 _Now Aerith frowned, "No more time... take care of yourself and survive, Yuffie! Maybe we'll speak again..."_

 _Yuffie took a step forward to grab the other woman, but a great black angel wing thrust from the flower girl's shoulder, knocking Yuffie back onto her rump. The ninja looked up in horror as the wing wrapped itself around the Cetra, and then burst into a blast of black feathers... then Aerith was gone._

In that instant, Yuffie bolted upright, chest rising and falling and gasping for air. Her hair stuck in clumps to her sweaty forehead, and she hastily wiped the moisture from her face with a nearby rag. She was back in that tiny prison cell again, the nearby bookshelf disorganized from her recent reading spell the night before. The lamp that was originally provided for her had been shut off, but the tiny slit of a window above her bed let in a modest amount of sunshine. She rolled off the bed, putting both bare feet on the cold iron floor, and wondered.

Of course it was a dream... but was it a 'real' dream? Had Aerith really reached across the veil and contacted her? She had said she had contacted Cloud before, and now she racked her brain to remember if Cloud had said anything about it. Did anyone else know? Did Tifa? Barret? Reeve?

"And once you're free, you mustn't tell anyone that we've spoken... it'll only increase his powers..." Yuffie said aloud in the empty cell. _His_ powers? And then the way she disappeared... Sephiroth? What the hell was THAT all about!

In frustration, Yuffie punched the nearby wall, which in turn split her knuckles and nearly broke a finger. She swore, but wrapped the previously discarded rag around her hand. Ever since she got captured, there was only more questions and more questions and STILL more questions! No answers! She turned and stood upon the bed to look out the slit of a window, the overcast sky almost depressing, and a cold wind blowing in her face; winter was in full swing, but for the moment there was no snow on the ground. And then a thin object suddenly struck her in the face, wrapping around one of her ears. She shrieked and fell backwards onto the bed, slapping and clawing at the thing touching her. Once it was off, she stood up and looked at what it could be... and saw a thin pink ribbon upon the bed. Her heart skipped a beat and she reached out to gingerly pick it up, looking towards the window.

"Hope..." Yuffie whispered.

Tara was alive! Vincent ran away from the others to fight other battles... for her? Cloud and the others all had to still be alive too, or else Aerith would have mentioned them, right? The young girl smiled wide then, something she hadn't done since she was taken prisoner. She wrapped the ribbon around her neck, tying a cute little bow in the front of her throat, then again looked out the window.

"Thank you, Aerith," She called out. She wasn't sure if the Cetra would hear her or not... but now she had hope.

* * *

 **~ ` ` ` [VII] ` ` ` ~**

* * *

 _~ ` ` ` [Edge City; WRO Tower] ` ` ` ~_

* * *

"Wait, Cloud," Reeve held up a hand, "There's a lot that we need to discuss, but first, something you'll want to know. Something important,"

"Thanks in advanced," Barret muttered sarcastically.

Rufus chuckled, "You should be thanking Tseng and Cait; they're the ones who found this information."

"And what kind of information?" Tifa asked, losing patience.

Rufus let the silence hang in the air a few seconds, then spread his palms apart, "Why, the very thing you've all been wondering since this all started."

Reeve finished, "We know exactly where Yuffie is being held prisoner."

" **WHAT!** _ **"**_ Four voices called out at the exact same time.

"Where?"

"How do you know for sure?"

"Spit it out, Shinra!"

"How did you find out?"

"Is she still alive?"

"What's being done about it?"

The general clamor and barrage of questions went on and on for several long seconds, Rufus merely rubbing his temples with his fingers. Meanwhile, Cloud had stood ramrod stiff, as if trying to process the new information. Could it be true, that they finally had a lead on Yuffie?

"Everyone!" Reeve yelled, silencing the room, "Please, sit down and we'll explain everything, and there is a lot we need to talk about!"

"Ya got that right!" Barret huffed, reluctantly sitting back down. The other three followed suit, as did Rufus and Reeve.

Reeve then reached underneath the table and dropping a thick and (by the look of it) heavy black suitcase on the table. He opened the locks, pulled the suitcase open, and then pushed it to the side to everyone can see his face. He rummaged through the first few stacks of papers, muttering something no one else heard, then made a satisfied sound and removed two stacks of papers stapled together. The silence and the sound of papers rustling together unnerved everyone else in the room, Cloud and Barret shifting uncomfortably in their chairs.

Rufus took notice of this with a chuckle, "Don't worry, the Wutai girl is very much alive. I had offered to sort Reeve's paperwork for him, but..."

"Enough, Rufus," Reeve put in, then turned to face Cloud's group, "She's being held at Junction Town," Then threw the paper stacks across the table to the others.

The name sounded familiar to Cloud, whom opened the first stack, Tifa sliding closer to examine it. On the papers were print outs of satellite maps, coordinates, red X's and O's indicating one thing or another, and other such information that the others couldn't process right then.

"And what'n the hell is Junction Town?" Cid asked.

Rufus tapped the butt end of his cane on the wooden table, "Top secret ShinRa military base," He chuckled, "My father built it before he ever considered me his legitimate heir to the company."

"The words 'secret' and 'military base' never go good together," Tifa threw in, "What was it's purpose?"

Rufus shrugged. "Nothing fancy, it was meant to be a simple rendezvous point for the ShinRa army landing in Junon, or across the ocean. It... might have been used for other illicit activities, however."

"Like torturin' people?" Barret scoffed.

Rufus nodded, "Among other things."

Barret shot up then, "Once a ShinRa always a..." But was yanked back into his seat by Tifa.

Rufus held up a palm then, "As I understood it all those years ago, when you lot pushed back the 'army' attacking Fort Condor, the place was abandoned. Well, until now of course."

"Eh? What army he talkin' about?" Cid looked dumbfounded.

"Before Meteorfall," Cloud answered, "None of us knew you even existed yet at that point; the concept of the Brotherhood probably wasn't even thought of either."

"Hah! Gotcha!"

"Anyway..." Reeve cleared his throat to direct the attention back to him, "As you'll all see on that second stack of papers, it's obviously been seized by the Brotherhood. And as we understand it, it's been under their control for some time now."

"Excluding Cid here..." Rufus went on, "Do you all remember that very first mission I assigned you? Capturing a terrorist?"

Cloud and Barret nodded, and Tifa said, "Obviously I didn't go, you see what happened as a result of that," Referring to her assault by Brotherhood cronies.

Rufus ignored the woman, "Well, the original information collected by Tseng and Rude, the very first pictures you ever saw, Cloud, came from Junction Town."

Cid laughed, "Damn! I missed a lot! Nearly this whole time I've been freezin' my ass off and you guys have been having all the fun!" And when he received scornful looks from his other three comrades, sobered up and looked away. He had no idea what had happened to Tifa or the children.

"Fine, so Junction Town," Cloud said, "what's being done about it?"

"We're still trying to figure out..." Reeve had started, but Barret jumped to his feet and yelled,

"I'm sick of hearin' that damn excuse! Let's just go and get our friend!"

Cloud gripped his arm this time and yanked him back into his seat, "Be quiet, Barret,"

"Don't you tell me..."

Under the table, Tifa booted the side of Barret's foot and gave him a look that silenced him.

"I agree with Barret!" Cid threw in, "Let's storm the fort and take away an advantage of theirs to boot!"

"It's too risky," Reeve reminded them, "And besides, must I remind you we're _still_ recovering from Junon?"

"They would probably kill Yuffie," Cloud put in, "even if we threw everything we had left at them, we'd probably find her dead."

Tifa winced at that, but let it slide, knowing that it was possible, "But why _wouldn't_ they kill her?"

"Because of Wutai," Reeve answered.

Rufus continued, "Your friend Valentine seems to think the only reason Yuffie is still breathing is..."

"...to force Godo and Wutai to fight for the Brotherhood," Cloud finished, nodding, "Vincent mentioned that before we left Junon."

"The main point is," Reeve went on, "is the Brotherhood may have started at the Junction, but as I've said it has been under their thumb for a long time. Spies report the fortifications almost rival that of Fort Condor itself!"

"So?" Barret spat.

"So," Rufus answered, "the smarter thing to do would be a sort of... infiltration tact. Two, three people maximum to sneak in. And since the sneakiest of you lot is under lock and key... well."

"So we just leave Yuffie to rot in a Brotherhood cell?" Cid fumed, "I didn't fly halfway around the world to hear that shit!"

Reeve held up a hand to try and diffuse the situation, "It's being handled, and nothing regarding that matter will be done without your knowledge, I swear it. Yuffie is my friend too, you know? Haven't I said this once before?"

"Now, there is another matter to discuss, though we've already talked about it once before, though Barret wasn't here." As Reeve said this, he removed a thick, sealed brown envelope from his jacket and slid it across the table towards Barret, who in turn ripped open the envelope and began to sort through it's contents.

"And what exactly are you talking about?" Cloud asked, not entirely sure.

"Just get on with it, please," Tifa scoffed, which drew an odd look from Cloud; she ignored him.

Reeve cleared his throat and adjusted his tie, "Do you all remember our conversation about the Northern Glacier operation?"

Here, Cid shuffled nervously, and avoided everyone's gaze, Barret suddenly looked up, suspiciously eyeballing both Reeve and Rufus. Both Cloud and Tifa nodded, recalling a previous meeting some time before the WRO and their allies attempted to retake Fort Condor.

"Well, Barret, shortly after we learned of the Brotherhood's presence, Rufus here..." And slowly his gaze trailed to the ex-president, "...had started a campaign in secret, at first without my knowledge."

"And you accused me once of always shifting blame to another; well played, _president._ " And Rufus spat the word.

"More secrets!" Barret suddenly bellowed and again shot to his feet, "An' how long has this been going on, huh! Can't trust a single..."

"Damn it Barret, shut up already!" Cloud interrupted him, this time rising to meet his gaze.

"What'choo gonna do, Spikey? Make a move!" Barret matched the blonde's hard glare.

A silence fell over the room, until finally Tifa stood up and moved between the two, "That's enough! Zip 'em up and put 'em away, both of you! Quit acting like children!"

Rufus chuckled, and Reeve heaved a sigh. It was Rufus who spoke, "And what would you have done, Barret, regarding this information? Cloud, Tifa, and Valentine had already known of the operation. And here we all are! I know you all better than you might want to admit!"

"What are you getting at?" Cloud said with a hardened look.

"Simple!" Rufus said, "With everything else that was going on, and everything that happened since, I needed you all focused on what mattered! Barret, both you and the Wutai girl had other tasks to accomplish, and that is why Reeve decided to withhold the information from you." Here, Rufus leaned across the table, and locked eyes with the other blonde, "f Reeve had not badgered me to tell you of the secret in the north, you'd have never known and nothing would have changed. In fact, this still changes nothing, save your foolish pride clouding your judgment." Though he said this more to Barret than anyone.

Cloud slowly nodded, keeping eye contact with the ex-president. All those months ago, when Rufus first told himself and the others of the Northern Glacier, Rufus had said those exact same words. Funny now, that they were seemingly having the exact same conversation all over again, and that Cloud was being the voice of reason, while Barret continued to simmer and stare hard at the two executives across the table. Cid remained silent and still did not look anyone in the eye.

Tifa shook her head, "Why bring it up again?

Reeve nodded, "No more lies, no more secrets. As of now, you're all part of the war council, and are welcome to attend any meetings. Regarding the Glacier operation itself, you'll all be pleased to know that production is coming along nicely, a small fleet of airships and other vehicles are being prepared to arrive here on the mainland."

"And besides," Rufus put in, "if you truly wanted to know beforehand... why, you should have asked your friend to specify on his whereabouts before Junon!"

"What?" Came Cloud's voice.

"Don't look so humble now, _Commander_ Highwind," Rufus chuckled, "Why don't you elaborate?"

And then all eyes turned to Cid.

"Hey! Don't give me those damn looks! At the time I had no idea what was going on! These mugs were paying good money to do what I do best; would any of you say no to something like that?"

"There's always a lot of red tape," Tifa said scornfully.

"Yeah, well..." Cid struggled to retort, but there were no reasonable arguments forthcoming.

"An' why the hell didn't you call any of us!" Barret said.

"Because he signed a contract of confidentiality," Rufus put in, "No contact with anyone outside the compound, aside from either myself or Reeve here. Not that it would have mattered... I can count many times failed phone calls due to poor reception."

"Hey!" Cid said louder than normal, "Quit givin' me those dirty looks, damn it!"

"Since when were you one to play by the rules, Cid?" This came from Cloud.

Cid beat his fists against his head a couple of times, "Son of a bitch I swear I didn't know all the details before I signed!"

Reeve suddenly stood up then, "It was myself and two Turk recruits who approached Cid at Rocket Town. And what he's saying is true; all I had told him was that a militia uprising had started at Junction Town, and that we would need his help building tanks, trucks, the like, but not airships, such is what we're building now. Because at the time, we thought that it was a minor threat; this was long before they seized Fort Condor. We did not even know the name of the Brotherhood itself, nor it's key members."

"Which is why you kept us in the dark for so long about it," Tifa pondered out loud.

"Yes," Reeve answered, "At the time, it was assumed they would not even technically become a threat; at least not one that one sweeper team couldn't eliminate in less than a day. Look at all that's happened since then... perhaps I should have given the order to bomb the Junction all those months ago."

"But wait," Rufus suddenly realized, "and so you were the one who originally hired Mr. Highwind here, and yet I recall a time of you berating me for keeping the operation a secret from you in the first place! Let us move the spotlight over to you, _President_ Tuesti."

Reeve glared now at Rufus, "And it was **you** who went behind my back, sent Cid and my teams to the Northern Glacier, and began building _airships,_ while hiring countless more workers and engineers than I signed for! _That_ is what I berated you for, Rufus!"

Rufus laughed then, now twirling his cane around in his fist, "And with everything going on now, can **any** of you hate me now? This particular shadow game might be the thing that saves us all!"

"So going behind _my_ back and essentially stealing money from my company, that's something we should thank you for?"

"What did I tell you once, Reeve? Is it not myself who funds the WRO? And besides! You would have Cid here only build small tanks and armored jeeps! Whereas now we might actually stand a chance against..."

Barret had heard enough and, though he remained seated, yelled as loud as he could, "Ha ha! I knew it! You said it yourself, 'shadow games'!" And yet again stood, up, this time intent on going after the two executives across the table, "It's all smoke and shadows with you fucks!"

Cloud stood up just as quick and stepped in Barret's path, who had begun to move around the table, "Barret, you need to leave."

"You know what?" Barret chuckled, then stepped backward and moved to turn away. Then just as quick swung his graft hand at the blonde.

Cloud in answer ducked under the blow, gripping the larger man by his side and shoulders and (using his own momentum against him) hurled Barret across the table. Rufus and Reeve moved out of the way just in time. After, before anyone could blink, Cloud hopped on top of the table and lunged across.

"Shit!" Cid and Tifa swore at once, and moved after the two brawlers.

Cloud leaped off the table, bringing both clenched fists downward, only for Barret to catch both of the others wrists and bash his forehead into Cloud's. Temporarily stunned, Cloud was then thrown around and against the wall, where Barret began to punch him with his left fist. Cid was on Barret first, but was easily shoved aside by the metal arm. That arm had been holding Cloud against the wall, and so the blonde used the advantage. His knee shot out to catch Barret in the ribs, and when he keeled over, Cloud pushed Barret's face into an upraised knee, thereby sending the larger man backward a few steps.

"Cloud! Stop!" Tifa yelled out.

On the opposite end of the room, Rufus flashed a handful of gil in Reeve's direction, "Fifty on Barret?"

Reeve only shook his head, but pressed a button on a remote hidden in his pocket.

Cloud lunged again, but was caught off-guard as Barret swung his metal fist downward and then upward, the solid material clipping the blond in the ribs. Tifa was on Barret's back then, and tried to restrain him in whatever way she could. Barret, acting solely on adrenaline, swung the elbow of his metal arm around and caught the female directly in the stomach. Tifa instantly lost her grip and fell onto her back, gripping her mid-section and gasping for air. Her mind raced with possibilities, and could feel a tiny stream of blood trickle down the side of her mouth. Her vision went hazy, Cid was on her in a second.

"Shit, Tifa! You okay?"

"Fine... just... stop them..." She groaned.

Cloud noticed this of course, and completely lost his mind, sprinting across the room. Barret watched him closely, snapping his hands out to take Cloud by the shoulders, twirled, and slammed the blonde hard against the wall. Cloud saw stars, but looked up just in time to duck down, Barret's metal fist caving in the wall where his head had been. Gloved fists clenched tight, he swung right, struck Barret's rib, left, right, then left again, finally driving the top of his head upward into Barret's chin to send him stumbling back. Yet all Barret could do was laugh,

"Come on then, foo'! Quit hittin' like a woman and gimme everything you got!"

"Oh, I intend to," Cloud muttered darkly.

Before Barret could blink, Cloud was on him again in a second, punching him square in the jaw, ducking under a retaliating right hook, then landed a left hook on the larger man's jaw again. Not waiting for the man to regain his composure, Cloud took a step forward, a left jab breaking the other man's nose, and his right fist striking Barret's sternum as hard as he could. And when Barret again keeled forward, Cloud, using the last of his strength, gripped Barret tight by the throat and somehow managed to lift him upward.

Tifa saw this, and panicked, thinking for a second that her lover was going to kill their friend, "Cloud! No! Please, I'm begging you!"

"Shit fuck hell!" Cid yelled, and lunged toward the other two.

Cloud saw red, heard Sephiroth's insane cackling in his mind, and completely lost it. He squeezed tighter still; by now Barret's face had begun to turn purple, and then blue just as fast.

"Spike trap! Knock it the fuck off!" Cid screamed, and was almost upon them.

Cloud then turned, hurling Barret over his head and down onto the solid wooden table in the center of the room, which instantly shattered under the impact. Barret remained motionless, buried now underneath a pile of broken wood and splinters. Cid was upon Cloud then, swinging his own fist at the back of Cloud's head, which sent him stumbling down to one knee. Before Cloud could turn to retaliate, the doors to the office were thrown open, a squad of WRO marines and police force rushing in, guns cocked and aimed at Cloud and Cid, who could only freeze and hold their hands up. The police were on the two a moment later, kicking their legs out from under them, slamming them onto their stomachs and snapping handcuffs around their wrists.

"What the fuck, Reeve!" Cid struggled.

"Wait!" Reeve called, "Not him," and pointed to Cid, "he was only trying to help."

Tifa watched all of this with tears in her eyes, now sitting upright and still clutching her stomach.

"Take Mr. Strife and Mr. Wallace there to separate holding cells, one across from the other," Reeve ordered.

"Is that wise, sir?" One marine asked.

"Better that they yell themselves hoarse to settle their issues than continue to ruin my offices!" Reeve said grimly.

As a team of marines set about to pick Barret up, the man groaned loudly, one eye swollen shut, but the remaining one glaring deeply at Cloud, who remained silent but returned the heated gaze. Barret's nose was also bent at a strange ankle, with blood steadily pouring down over his lips and down his chin to trickle onto the floor. Cloud himself had a black eye, and several bruises on his cheeks and stomach.

"I just want you **both** to know how extremely disappointed I am," Reeve seethed, "I had thought you could compose yourselves better than this, but I suppose I was wrong. I have half a mind to retract my offer to allow either of you to attend war councils if **THIS** is the kind of behavior I can expect."

"How long for?" Cloud spat, still not taking his eyes off Barret.

"Until I can be sure that your and Barret's differences are settled," Reeve replied. "Because you're my friends, I'm not having you thrown in a black cell, but I'm not going to let either of you go free so soon after what I just saw. I'm sorry, but I'm **NOT** going to bury any more close friends."

Rufus then tapped his cane once on the hard floor, "Take them away,"

Both Cloud and Barret were shoved and herded out the door then, but throughout they tried their best to hold eye contact, even struggled against the marines and police to get at one another again. Only for a second did Cloud look away, to look at Tifa and mouth the words 'I'm sorry.' She, in answer, only looked away and wiped a tear from her cheek.

"Tifa," Reeve stood over her, then knelt down, "Are you okay? Do you need a doctor?"

The woman shook her head, "I'm fine... I think."

"I saw what happened!" Cid put in, also kneeling down beside her, "That wasn't no shove, he full on clocked ya with that metal arm!"

"It was an accident," Tifa quickly put in, "Barret probably doesn't even know he did it... I'm fine, really, just need to rest."

"Well, at least rest here, in the medical wing," Reeve offered.

Tifa managed a weak smile, "If it'll make you feel better..."

"It would," Reeve confirmed.

"I'll stay with ya!" Cid said.

"Just... one thing, Reeve."

"Yes? Anything."

"Could I get a... female doctor? Some..." She struggled to find the right words, "...feminine medical questions I'd like to ask."

Reeve nodded, "Anything you need, Tifa. And don't worry about insurance or any of that nonsense; I'll see it taken care of."

"Right, come on girl!" Cid said, and gently helped Tifa to her feet, whom quickly shuffled away and stood on her own.

"I'm fine, really," She said one final time, then nodded to Reeve, "And thank you again." Then she and Cid turned and left.

Rufus, who had remained silent the entire time, trotted by Reeve, using his cane for support, "Well, that all went well. Are you going to reconsider your other offer for Strife, then?"

Reeve turned and face the other, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Aw, don't play dumb with _me_ of all people, Reeve. You think I don't know about the Buster Blades, that special ops team you've been putting together? The WRO's play on SOLDIER, I wonder? Very cheeky and original name by the way." Rufus' tone was as sarcastic as could be.

"Just focus on what matters, Rufus." Reeve said, then turned and left the room.

Rufus looked down at the cane in his hands, then clicked his tongue. "What matters..." He said aloud, also stepping forward and exiting the room. He hadn't heard from Tseng in quite a while, and so right then what mattered was finding the apparently wayward Director.

* * *

 **~ ` ` ` [VII] ` ` ` ~**

* * *

 _~ ` ` ` [Somewhere beneath Fort Condor] ` ` ` ~_

* * *

When the woman could at last open her eyes, there was nothing darkness all around her. Her head felt like it weighed several pounds, and every inch of her ached. She knew at once that she was sitting in the fetal position, legs tucked close to her chest and her arms hugging them even closer. Fear overtook her, and she began to wheeze and cough, struggling against the crushing blackness for a full breathe of air. Trying to calm herself, she gingerly reached one arm out in front of her to feel for... something, anything, but her hand always only grabbed empty air. In defeat, she simply let her arm drop, which collided with something solid. _Clang!_ The sudden noise was near deafening, and she tried to push herself deeper into the corner. Only once she calmed herself yet again did she begin to feel the ground beneath her. It was cold and hard... steel, perhaps, or iron?

Panic started to rise again, but she caught control of herself; she was from Wutai, after all! When she tried to stand however, her legs trembled, and she feebly fell back down onto her ear. Grunting and fighting through the confusion and odd sensations, she instead felt the walls around her. Here she discovered that, like the floor she was sitting on, the walls were also cold and hard. She opened her mouth to speak, but found her throat and mouth extremely dry. Her senses were clouded and she felt nauseous, and yet she continued to fight against her own body. Finally, after a few more minutes, she managed to croak out a single word.

"H...hello?"

"Quiet, damn it! Or they'll punish us again!" A gruff voice called from the darkness.

The woman froze, realizing that she wasn't alone. The pounding of her heart overtook her hearing, but still she tried to listen closer. Soon she could faintly make out the sounds of people gently breathing, but exactly how many she could not be sure.

"Shut your hole, newbie," Yet another voice, different from the first, said, "You don't know anything about punishment. You, get her some water."

"There ain't but a few drops left!" The original gruff voice called out, "Ya wanna waste on some broad who's already half dead?"

The woman again tried to shuffle away from the voices, as she heard movement, the soft padding of what must have bare feet on the hard ground, "If I have to tell you again to shut up, I'll make sure you're next on the table."

Then she heard the padding footsteps again, but growing closer and closer to her. "Please... don't..." She croaked again.

"Calm down, girl," That second voice called, "you'll feel better."

She then felt a hand touch her face, and she screamed. The scream was louder than all else, and echoed and reverberated several times; they must have been in a small space. After, there was a silence, when a third voice muttered, "Now ya've done it."

A split second later, the woman was completely blinded, as a bright flash of light completely blinded her. She faintly heard the sound of hinges squeaking, like a heavy door being thrown open, and still another voice, "Right, who's next for the barbecue rack!"

Unable to comprehend what was going on, she could only shield her eyes and turn into her little corner, her little safe haven. Then there was a shout, the sounds of a struggle, and then the loud rapid booming of gunfire, which caused herself and all those around her to scream in terror.

"That lil' bitch there hiding in the corner!" Someone yelled.

Before she could register that it could only imply her, two pairs of rough arms snatched her up and began to drag her away. Still blinded by the sudden light, she kicked and screamed, trying to be away from her captors. Then she felt a thick band of cloth snap into her mouth, the force of which threw her head backward and cracked her neck slightly. She tried to clear her vision quickly before anything else happened, fighting through heavily watered eyes and growing fatigue. She very briefly what she could only assume was a blurry outline of a corpse upon the floor, riddled with bullet holes and a pool of blood around it. When she tried to look back to where she was dragged from, darkness again overtook her sight was a black bag was yanked down over her head. Still she tried to kick and fight, when a pain shot into her arm; a few seconds later, she lost all consciousness.

When at last she regained consciousness, her world was still dark, and she felt a pair of hands gripping her arms and dragging her down a seemingly endless hallway. Her butt, legs, and feet dragged along the ground, her head slumped backward as far as it would go. She managed to moan a soft sound, only for the hands to suddenly snatch her up right.

"Wakey wakey, bitch! The doctor will see you now!" A voice directly to her right guffawed into her ear.

Then there was a _pound pound_ on a solid steel door, again the sound of hinges creaking loudly, and the female was forced onward. Not a second later, an agonized scream filled her ears, accompanied by the sounds of an electric saw and a horrible _slurping_ sound. Despite the obvious fear overtaking her, she soon found that she could not move at all, and was not sure if she could speak. She dared not try to speak or even make a sound, lest her captors punish her again... maybe if she stayed quiet, everything would be okay and she could return home... to Wutai.

The screaming slowly grew louder and louder, followed by a terrible _snap_ and then the screaming abruptly silenced. The sound of the whirring saw went on for a few more seconds, then ceased. Then she heard the sounds of heavy boots upon tile floor, followed by a loud clatter of some tool being flung down onto a table.

"This is the one, I assume," The woman heard a voice say. It sounded half-nasally, soft-spoken but with a razor's edge to it.

"The next on the list, Baron!" She heard a man to her right say.

"And did you inject her?" The one she assumed was called Baron asked.

"Flopped over like a boned fish right after!" A man to her left answered, then went on, "Though she woke up a few minutes after we started draggin' her here."

She heard a sigh, "An unfortunate prototype. No matter, take that atrocious bag off her and strip her down." Followed by retreating footsteps.

Every muscle in her body twitched and convulsed to try and be free, but to no avail; she still could not move. Instead, she felt her clothes being torn and ripped away, a chilling blast blowing over her nakedness and causing her to shiver. Afterward, the bag was yanked off her head, she again temporarily blinded by a flash of light. She whimpered and cowered, trying to be away, but once her vision cleared and looked up, her eyes went wide.

The first thing she could clearly make out was the man before her. Five-foot-ten-inches maybe, with green surgeons pants and a white long-sleeved button down shirt, with the sleeves rolled back above his elbows. Over that was a butcher's smock, and strung around his waist was a leather tool belt, loaded with different sized shivs, knives, scissors, razors, and many more things the woman could not recognize. He had a thin, almost skeletal sunk in face, pale skin, a hooked nose, with platinum blonde hair which was shoulder length all around, but every bit combed and slicked back behind his head, and no facial hair to speak of. His hands were bare, bloody, and almost bone thin, and around his eyes he wore small, rounded spectacles. He was covered in blood and gore from head to heel, and eyeballed her up and down; right then nothing else in the room mattered.

The man stepped closer, casually wiping blood from his face and mouth, "You must be from Wutai, yes?"

The woman nodded.

"Fascinating," The man said, adjusting his glasses while looking up and down her body.

He stepped closer still, throwing aside the bloody rag and clutching one of her breasts in both hands, fondling, pulling, and tugging not gently. "Tiny bosom... not surprising. Are all Wutai women shaped like children?"

The question brought a chuckle from the other two men. The women could do nothing but freeze in place.

Now the bloody man sank down to his knees, running gloved hands from her ribs down to her thighs, "Supple thighs," He cooed with a hint of amusement and satisfaction.

A hand then quickly slid between her thighs, and she jumped when she felt a finger slide inside of her. The intruding digit flicked this way and that, in and out a few times, before he stood up with an approving nod,

"Not a virgin, to be sure. I believe we can work with this one."

"What should we do with her, Devlynn?" One of her two captors asked.

"That's _Baron_ Devlynn to you, you insignificant parasite," The grotesque man snapped back, but always with a calm and flat voice, "Unless you want to be the one on the table, strap her down while I get ready. Oh and, you can remove that gag now. I do so love hearing the screams."

Without another word, the woman was forced forward, and placed upon her back onto an empty operations table. Her legs were spread wide apart and strapped down, her arms pulled out wide and likewise bound, with a thick strap covering her breasts and thighs. After, the thick cloth was ripped from her mouth, and the original two men left, pulling the thick steel door shut behind them.

"Please... don't..." Her meek voice tried to plead.

And then she saw the man come back into her view, a large handsaw in one hand, and a straight razor in the other. To her left she could see a small table, with rows of various vials containing unknown liquids, and many unknown tools she did not recognize.

Her fear reached its peak, and she at last found her voice, screaming and crying out at loud as she could. Her thin arms and legs thrashed and fought against the tight straps, but her entire body barely moved an inch off the table.

"Ohh..." The stranger sighed, placing the handsaw down, "Why in the world are you screaming? I haven't even cut you yet." All in the same plain, emotionless voice.

"I'll tell you whatever you want! Just... let me go!" The woman pleaded.

"Oh, my dear, you misunderstand. I used to be a surgeon, and to a surgeon the best answers are what's beneath the surface."

"But I haven't...!"

Casually, he drew back his hand and struck her across the nose, silencing her, and then wearing a look of regret, "Mustn't damage the sample, Devlynn," He said aloud to himself, then fetched a tiny vial and a long, thick syringe from his pocket.

"Nothing fancy here," He said, drawing the liquid into the needle, "Just adrenaline, to ensure you don't pass out on us," Then stuck the needle into an IV line, which he then jammed into one of the woman's veins in her arm, then depressed the stopper. As this was happening, the adrenaline took effect, the girl gagging several times, her body convulsing.

"That's it..." Devlynn smiled, "Welcome to the festivities, my dear. Now then! Let's get to work, shall we? I've always liked to start from the bottom, and work my way up... years ago, when I still had my medical license." Then chuckled darkly.

As he stepped towards the foot of the table and moved the straight razor close to exposed flesh, there came a loud _clang clang clang_ as someone pounded thrice on the steel door. Sighing in annoyance, he dropped the razor onto the metal tray, but picked up a steel clamp and a pair of hemostats.

"Now, we don't want you swallowing your tongue..." Devlynn cooed, reaching into the woman's mouth with the hemostats and snatching her tongue, to pull it out. He then used the steel clamp to secure the tongue to her bottom lip, then clicked his tongue own in satisfaction, "... so you sit tight, and don't move, yes?" With a smile, he clapped her on the shoulder, then moved out of her sight.

"Yes, come in."

Reij yanked up on the door handle and used his boot to push it open. Instantly, the smell of bleach and other disgusting things hit his nose, and he gagged once. Turning his head, he spat upon the floor, using a rag to cover his nose. "Fuckin' hell, Baron!"

Devlynn again casually wiped his hands with a cloth, then adjusted his glasses, "Boss," He replied, "What is it I can help you with?"

Meanwhile, the man called Kyle slowly stepped across the threshold and glanced around. The space was somewhat small, with two lines of three surgeons tables built closely together. Every one of these had a body strapped to it, but only two of these poor bastards were actually dead. He heard people gagging, choking, attempting to cry out for help. Blood and brain matter coated the walls and floor in random splatter, and those tied down still alive constantly thrashed to be free, causing still more disturbing sounds.

Reij gagged again, more from the barrage of scents hitting his nose, "Any progress down here?"

"I was just beginning to administer the dose," Devlynn responded, not seeming to be affected by the sounds, or the smells.

"What about him?" Kyle suddenly put in, pointing to a corpse in the corner. The corpse in question was strung up spread eagle against the wall; every inch of skin had been flayed raw, leaving only a stinking and ripe carcass left with only tissue, marrow, sinew, and vital organs that had since begun to slip past the bone structure and spill out onto the floor.

The Baron made a noise, "Just another failed subject, I'm afraid. That one is on my to do list."

"Fine, whatever!" Reij interrupted, wanting to be out of there quickly, "Here, I brought something for ya!" Then removed the black and red summon materia, once belonging to the silver-haired man, from his pocket.

Devlynn stepped closer to investigate, "I've not seen a materia like this before."

"Well, put this on the top of your to-do list!" Reij said, turning and slamming the orb down on a nearby table.

"My pleasure, boss," Devlynn smiled, "just as soon as I am finished here."

"Good," Reij went on, turning and shoving past the militant Kyle to be out of that torture room. "You better get me some results soon!" Then the metal door was slammed shut and the two men were gone.

Baron Devlynn looked to the sphere on the table, marveled at the swirling tendrils of black and red within it, and was racked with goosebumps. Just looking at the thing, he knew that there was something special, otherworldly about it, and was most eager to begin studying it!

But first there was the task at hand to be completed.

"Right, my dear," He proclaimed, picking the straight razor and hemostats back up, "Where were we? Oh yes! You're going to feel a pinch in five... four... three..."

The straight razor suddenly ripped down the woman's leg from kneecap to ankle; a perfectly clean and deep slice all the way to the bone. The room was filled with the agonized screams of the victim, the sound even carrying out into the hallway, wherein Reij and Kyle heard it. Casually, Devlynn thrust the hemostats into the open wound, dropping the straight razor in favor of a steel spike resembling a tooth pick. The man dug around and pushed sinew and muscle aside, invoking still more and louder screams, but he never seemed to notice or care. Finally, the clamps shut around a line of tendon, and ripped it out with a sickening _slurp_ and gush of blood. Crimson sprayed him across the face and stained his glasses, but the man only pulled the tendon closer to his eyes, turning it around and studying every inch.

"Fascinating.." Devlynn whispered.

The tortured screams continued.


	2. The Winds of Change

**-Chapter 2-**

 **The Winds of Change**

* * *

 _I follow the Moskva, down to Gorky Park, listening to the wind of change. An August summer night, soldiers passing by, listening to the wind of change._

 _The world is closing in, and did you ever thing that we could be so close, like brothers? The future's in the air, I can feel it everywhere, blowing with the wind of change._

 _Take me to the magic of the moment on a glory night, where the children of tomorrow dream away, in the wind of change._

* * *

Reij leaned back on the medieval throne, one leg crossed over the other and looking extremely bored, as he always did when calling such gatherings. At the other end of the long hall, the twin doors had been left opened, with soldiers of varying ranking slowly filing in. Edward stood to the right of the throne, with the militant named Kyle standing to the left. In the far left corner, the gargantuan mutant Hammerhand sat still as stone, carefully watching the leaders by the throne.

Reij scanned the room, "Where the hell is that foreigner?"

"I delivered the message myself," Edward said, "He said he'd be here."

Right then, the foreigner did indeed appear in the doorway, accompanied by two of his own men with the same bronzed skin as himself. He stepped up to the throne, bowing at the waist, "Your Grace!"

Reij waved him away, "Can the damn formalities and get in line. Is that everyone?"

As Tormuj stepped to stand by Edward, the latter scanned the room, "Appears to be... sir."

"Right then, let's get this over with!" Reij yelled as he stood, clapping his hands twice, "Yo! Shut those doors and let's get on with it!"

After the doors were shut, Reij sat back down, "Who wants to go first?"

The twin monsters Sinnah and Sonnia appeared from amongst the gathered crowd, and stepped towards the throne, stopping five paces away.

"Right, you two," Reij said, "What can I do ya for?"

"Mighty Reij!" The male, Sinnah, giggled, "We were hoping to receive our weapon back!"

"It served it's purpose to weaken the... former leader so that you could seize the position," The female Sonnia added,

Reij considered this proposition with a snort, "Sorry, no can do! There's something about that thing and I intend to find out exactly what!"

Sinnah stepped forward then, a hand already reaching for his blade, "I don't believe it was a question, sir!"

"You have no right to that materia," Sonnia said, "nor could any of you here possibly begin to understand what power it holds!"

"Oh, but I have _every_ right to it, sister!" Reij laughed, "It was a gift, right? Well, I'm claiming the thing now; spoils of war! And you clearly don't know the guy I got studying the thing!"

"All you'll do is bring doom to everything you've built," Sonnia glowered.

"Enough!" Reij snarled, "You'll get it back when my guy is through with it. Which reminds me... where _is_ Baron?"

"Perhaps we'll cut you into ribbons and add _your_ soul to it's power!" Sinnah cackled, an evil glint in his eye.

In an instant, a wall of guns on both sides of the room were aimed at the twins. Sonnia smacked the male across the cheek, then bowed in apology, "As you say, but don't forget just _who_ it was who helped you attain what you wanted most."

"Whatever," Reij huffed, "Next!"

Before another word was spoken, one of the large wooden doors was suddenly thrown open to clatter against the wall, with two forms entering. The first, taller of the two, wore a black duster jacket, which wafted behind him as he walked. Beneath that was a matching black button down vest thrown over a plain white collared shirt with a black tie tucked within. Black dress pants stopped just at the ankle, with shiny black boots clicking loudly on the hard floor. In the man's right hand, skeletal thin, he held a black cane, the butt-end coated in silver, and the handle of which was a white sphere, resembling a materia. The ring finger of the hand holding the cane sported a plain silver band, with a white gem inserted into it. The left hand reached up, first to push the rounded spectacles back into place, and then to push more of the slicked back platinum blonde hair back into place.

"Well son of a bitch!" Reij's voice carried across the hall, "The great Baron Devlynn decides to show his face after all!"

"Boss," Devlynn called back across the hall, and started towards the throne, cane leading the way.

The shambling creature that followed close to Baron's side was, more or less, human. It was hunchbacked, always bent forward and shuffling in awkward half steps. The right arm was considerably swollen, almost as large as the rest of it's body, chorded muscles and veins surging through it. The other arm was just the opposite, and was thin, almost as wide as a stick. Only a few hairs remained on it's head, and what teeth that remained were brown, like a line of rotting tombstones. It wore simple black pants, and a butcher's smock around the rest of it's body. On approach, the other assembled militants shuffled away to give them a wide berth. Even Hammerhand seemed to turn away from them.

Devlynn noticed this with a chuckle, "Why do you shrink back in fear?" While patting the creature on the head, "Ramsey is harmless, more or less, and extremely intelligent."

The creature Ramsey chuckled a hoarse, horrible sound, sending spittle and saliva scattering every which way, "Good Ramsey always helps!"

"You're the one I wanted to see, Baron." Reij called, then beckoned the man closer.

Devlynn and the creature Ramsey stopped five paces before the stage, the former clicking his cane loudly on the floor, "And here I am."

"Has anything changed that we need to know about?" Edward asked.

Devlynn shrugged, "Since three days ago? Nothing. I haven't even started work on the materia yet... much work to do, experiments to run on people..."

Suddenly, Sinnah shoved his way through the crowd, "So _this_ abomination is who you gave our weapon to?" Then turned and faced the Baron, "Well! You'll be giving it back to us!"

Devlynn seemed unimpressed, even bored, "Abomination, is it? Funny, coming from one such as you." Then clicked his tongue, "I should like to see you try. Now I suggest you get back in line and remember your place, lest I sick my pet on you."

Sinnah looked down at the creature Ramsey, and started to laugh.

Devlynn also looked down, then back to Sinnah, "Oh no, not him; he is only my assistant." He then raised his left hand and pointed into the corner, "I would like to see you tumble with him, however."

Hammerhand gurgled a sound.

Edward froze in place, looking first to the giant in the corner, and the ominous Baron, "Wh... what?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" Devlynn chuckled, "One of my first creations! And possibly the finest, might I add, seeing as he is still in tact... more or less."

Reij cackled, "What, you didn't think Silver Hair found that giant fuck on the side of the road like a stray dog, did'ja? And you," Pointing at Sinnah, "Sit down and shut up or I'll let the good Baron here place you on his rack next!"

Sonnia appeared behind her brother, again smacking him on the cheek and pulling him back into the crowd.

"Now, Baron, what's the update on the camps?" Reij asked.

Again Devlynn shrugged, "I've not received the reports from the southern or western dignitaries yet. But I do doubt that there will be any problems. The other scientists all trained under myself, and as you know, boss, my methods are very..." Here he chuckled, flexing his left hand, the knuckle bones cracking loudly, "...persuasive."

The creature Ramsey began to snicker a nasally, grating sound, "Ramsey likes to play!"

Devlynn whipped his cane around, the butt-end cracking the side of the creature's head with a horrible sound, "You shall speak only when spoken to."

"And the local camps and labs?" Edward asked.

Devlynn nodded, "So far, everything continues to go as planned. Soon enough your ranks will be back to their pre-Junon strength."

Reij nodded his approval, "Maybe Silver Hair wasn't a total moron after all! Ha ha! And that special serum?" This he said, glancing at Hammerhand in the corner.

The Baron sighed, "More subjects have died than I care to admit; it proves that I shouldn't mix brandy with science. The formula has yet to come back to me."

"Well, I suggest you hurry it along, Baron. Tormuj!"

The bronze-skinned man stepped down to stand next to Devlynn, then faced the throne, "Your Grace?"

"How's the weapons construction going at the Junction?" Reij demanded.

Tormuj clicked his heels together, "Nearly complete, Your Grace! Just waiting for..."

"...my special touch," Devlynn chuckled. "Very well, I'll set out at once; you'll find, boss, I've already taken the liberty of packing my equipment."

"Your Grace!" Tormuj quickly added, "If there is nothing left for this one here, this one requests to join Sir Devlynn back to Junction Town!"

Devlynn raised a brow, "I don't need to be coddled, _boy_ ," And here pulled back his coat, to show an oddly colored (and even more oddly shaped) gun tucked into his belt, "I am more than capable of handling my own."

Tormuj smiled a modest smile, showing even white teeth, "A courteous gesture, Sir Devlynn! This one had planned to return to the Junction regardless!"

"Or you can let me go," Edward took a step forward, "I hear you like to torture; happens to be a specialty of mine. Maybe I could help."

The Baron scoffed, "I'm much older than you, Cross; been at this a long time. I don't require any assistance, least of all from you."

Edward's face hardened, "You think so?"

"Shall we have a contest, then?" Devlynn's wiry lips smirked, just slightly, "One victim apiece, see who's screams first? You'll find I hardly require any actual cutting to induce terror... just ask my last victim. Some wiry female from Wutai as I recall."

Tormuj winced at that, even slowly reached for one of his daggers at his belt.

"Ah, that reminds me!" Reij's voice suddenly boomed, "Tormuj, how is that little Wutai slut? Yuffie was her name? I already know you and that silver-haired prick stashed her at the Junction while the rest of us were out fighting at Junon."

"Another Wutain girl?" Devlynn wondered, "Oh, my favorite. Perhaps this journey won't be so terrible after all... something to look forward to!"

Tormuj's dagger slid a little further out of the sheath, he eyeballing the Baron carefully.

"Keep your mitts off her, Baron!" Reij barked, "That one has some value, unfortunately. Need the bitch completely whole."

Devlynn sighed, "Such a pity. Very well, boss, I shall take my leave; I'll stop and check in on the camps and labs along the path and send you my report." Then turned on a heel and headed for the exit, "Come, Ramsey."

Tormuj slid the dagger back into place, then turned to face the throne, "The girl is well enough, Your Grace. Shall I return to Junction Town?"

"Fine, go," Reij waved a hand, "I'm sendin' some of my boys along with ya to help hold down the fort, and to keep an eye on Baron and his own cronies."

"Your Grace," Tormuj bowed again, "Glory to the Brotherhood!" Then also turned and left the room, his personal men and a few of Reij's following close behind.

"And me, sir?" Edward asked.

"What's the situation on the reserves in Mideel?" Reij turned and looked at the general of the rebels.

"A third are on their way here, the rest stayed behind." Edward answered.

"Whatever works. The stowaways?"

Edward thought a moment, "Haven't heard from most of them as yet, so I assume they're still at sea... but eye-witness accounts from our other men confirm they made it onboard the ships."

Reij nodded, "Regular guys are one thing..." Then turned to look at Hammerhand, "But how are we going to get this ugly fuck onto a ship?"

Hammerhand slowly rose, having to bend forward somewhat, lest he shatter the roof, "M...meeee... fiiightttt?"

"Soon as I find a use for ya, ugly!" Reij laughed, "Maybe Devlynn can whip up a shrinking potion? Ha ha! Then we could shrink our entire army and send 'em right into Edge!"

Sonnia came forward then, her brother standing two steps back, a red hand print still clearly viable on both cheeks. She asked, "And what shall we do, sir?"

Reij scoffed in annoyance, rising to his feet, "You two freaks just hang out for now! We got Baron and Tormuj at the Junction, Hammerhand is hopefully headed overseas soon; need as many bodies around right now! Edward, you and Hammerhand meet me in the courtyard in ten minutes, I got another trick to pull out of my hat. The rest of ya, get the fuck outta my sight!"

The assembled troops and soldiers, the Twin Blades included, began to file out of the room, Hammerhand having to crawl out the doors on his hands and knees. Reij gave Edward one final look, before he too left through the double doors.

Edward stepped off the slightly raised platform the throne was built upon, then five paces from the throne itself, turned and faced it. He seemed to smirk as he examined the throne, biting his bottom lip to keep from laughing. Everything seemed to be working just as he had hoped it would!

A powerful force suddenly assaulted his mind, it feeling like a grating edged weapon stabbing into his mind. He instantly gripped his head with both hands, the pain so searing he fell down onto one knee.

" _You can't fight it forever, you know,_ " A voice whispered in his mind.

His vision flashed, rapidly changing from the throne before him, and wisps of green energy... the Lifestream?

The sound of a door opening yanked him free of the thoughts, Edward quickly standing up to face the doors, coated in sweat.

"General Cross?" The militant asked, "You all right?"

"Fine," Edward responded immediately, "Carry on, son."

He then turned and glanced one final time at the throne, the ultimate seat of evil power, then followed the militant out of the room.

* * *

 **~ ` ` ` [VII] ` ` ` ~**

* * *

 _~ ` ` ` [Edge City; WRO Tower; Intensive Care Unit] ` ` ` ~_

* * *

The entire room was depressing, white tile floor, white ceiling, beige colored floral wallpaper, the steady _beep...beep...beep_ of the heart monitor by now nothing but background noise.

Rufus had remained in the same seat for close to an entire day straight with no food, rest, or even water. He felt as though he were rooted to the chair, and felt no inclination to move. Directly across from him, Tseng lay in the hospital bed, hooked to life support machines and an oxygen mask tightly strapped to his face. As soon as Rufus had caught wind of the assault, he rushed over at once, and had been there ever since. Directly above him, bolted to the wall, a small square tv played some news program.

"Who did this to you, old friend?" Rufus asked aloud, leaning forward and resting his chin on the handle of his cane.

Rufus still remembered the scene very well, as the cleaning crews had still been working to clean up the blood from the floor and walls. He recalled bursting through the taped off crime scene, proclaiming that he would fire each and every policeman present should they try to detain him. Lysa had been there of course, along with a female blonde Turk recruit, the latter having been answering questions by the police. Apparently she had been the one to originally discover the Director's body. When he questioned Lysa, she only said that she had come as soon as she heard, and couldn't fathom who or for what reason someone would want Tseng dead.

"Surely you know," Rufus said aloud again to the unconscious Director, "if those foolish crime shows are to be believed, a killer always reveals himself before he kills his victim. Wake up, and tell me."

He had known Tseng for a long time, and knew that the Turk Director was no pushover. Whoever had gotten the jump on him had to be very skilled indeed. He saw photos of Tseng's body; a crude carving of JENOVA's head across his shoulders, the word 'brotherhood' and 'he was the first of many' smeared on the wall by the body. So, the Brotherhood were responsible, but how could they have possibly gotten an assassin inside the Tower of all places?

"I need you, Tseng. You're my best agent."

First Reno and Rude, and now Tseng?

Just then, the door to the room opened, and Reeve slowly stepped in. Rufus looked over his shoulder to see two elite marines remain on either side of the door, which Reeve closed.

Rufus scoffed, "What's wrong, Reeve? Don't trust the safety of your own Tower?"

"Considering what happened to Tseng, it seems no one is safe anymore," Reeve replied, then stepped closer to the bed.

Rufus watched all of this carefully, finally actually hearing the television above him, "Why do you think they put tv's in coma patients rooms, Reeve?"

Reeve shrugged, "Some people think they can still hear."

Rufus snorted, "So leave them a radio; who still thinks they can see?"

"What are you getting at?"

"I'm getting at that my best man and possibly the closest thing to a friend I've ever had was stabbed in the back, and the only thing keeping him alive are those machines."

Reeve sighed, "Does Elana now?"

"Called her soon as Lysa filled me in. She was down by the docks, on her way here last I heard. That recruit have anything useful to say?"

Reeve sat in the second chair on the other side of the bed, "No. She was on her way to her initiation test and found Tseng. The attacker was long gone."

"I assume a full investigation is underway," Rufus cut his eyes at the other male.

"Of course, Rufus; you think I'll let something like this slide? Now the Brotherhood apparently has access to the Tower!"

"The only question is how. This _technically_ should be the safest place in all of Edge." Rufus scoffed then, "Looks like the Brotherhood again have proven us wrong."

Reeve considered this, "What have the doctors said?"

"They all want to take him off the life support; say it'd be a mercy, that as it stands we're just prolonging his suffering."

"And you haven't given that any thought?" Reeve inquired.

"Of course I have, Reeve!" Rufus suddenly snapped, yelling louder than expected and using his cane to shatter a nearby glass vase, "I've done nothing but consider that the entire time I've been sitting here! And do you know how long I've been sitting here? I expect I'll be back in that wheelchair before much longer, because I haven't moved from here in the last day or so!"

Reeve stood up then, waving away the marines who suddenly entered the room, "Tseng is a figher, Rufus. He always has been. And we'll find out who did this to him."

"And in the meantime, what?" Rufus brooded, "Shall we pretend nothing has happened? Once the entire Tower hears about this, what do you think that will do for morale?"

Reeve turned to look at the fallen Director upon the bed, "I already have everyone locking everything down tight; only a very select few are allowed to come and go as they please. As of now, we're at security level three."

Rufus looked away from the man, and out the nearby window, "And when are we at level one, Reeve? The maximum?"

Now Reeve looked back at the other male, a dark look on his face, "When we discover our enemy has hidden nuclear labs, and their finger is on the launch button."

Rufus said nothing.

As Reeve moved to exit the room, he stopped by Rufus, and put a palm on his shoulder, "Don't make the selfish mistake, thinking you're the only one who has lost something to war." Then patted his shoulder once, and opened the door to step out.

"Oh, and," Reeve paused in the doorway, looking back towards Rufus, "You have visitors."

"Who, and why should I care?"

But Reeve closed the door, and he was gone.

For the first time in nearly an entire day, Rufus stood up, the bones in his legs cracking and popping back into place. He found that he needed the use of his walking cane more than usual, bending down to gently massage the inside of his right knee. So far, each and every time the Brotherhood attacked, it wasn't just on one front, but multiple, and that not all battles were fought in the field. He vaguely recalled reading a report that the Lockhart woman's bar had come under attack yet again, the assailants doing all but burning the building down. Did Reeve know about that, and if so why had he not mentioned it to Cloud and the others? A waste of his breath, no doubt, but still a bit out of character for Reeve.

And on top of all that, at the same time Tseng was attacked, and now practically dead himself.

"Our silver-haired friend is more cunning than he seems," Rufus said, looking down again at Tseng's body.

He thought back to the other times the WRO and Brotherhood had clashed and all the end results. Lost fights, empty victories, countless lives lost, and terror striking in the one place that should have been the safest. An epiphany struck Rufus then, like a bolt of lightning.

"You were looking into something our enemy didn't want to be discovered," This he said to the unconscious Tseng.

"But what?" Rufus asked again out loud. "And how would they even know that you were looking into it, and why would they want to keep that secret buried?"

Rufus' hand shot into his coat pocket and removed a cellphone, dialing two numbers and quickly bringing it to his ear.

The line only rang half of a time, "Yes, sir. Howtzer here."

"I need a twenty on Elana and that female Turk recruit who found Tseng,"

"Right away, sir," Lysa responded, "And then what?"

"I don't like when there are more questions than answers," Rufus quickly said, "When you find them, bring them to my office _immediately_. We're going to get to the bottom of this."

"Yes, sir," Lysa said, and then hung up.

Rufus waited a moment, then dialed two different numbers. This time the line rang twice, then clicked.

"Master Sergeant Biggs here. Mr. ShinRa?"

"I hope you can hear me,"

"Yes sir," The voice replied, "What's..."

"Listen closely, Biggs," Rufus snapped, "I understand you answer directly to Reeve, but I need a small favor. I want eyes on Tseng's room at all times. No Turks, no recruits, I want only your own personal men watching the Director around the clock."

There was a pause, "Sir, I... don't understand. Why me, and not your Turks?"zz

Rufus felt a vein surge in his temple, his patience long gone, "You're not being paid to _understand_ Sergeant Biggs, you're being paid to _obey_. Now, can you help me or shall I have you tried for insubordination? And believe me when I say that Reeve won't save you."

Another pause, then a sigh, "I'll have Wedge and Jessie up right away, sir."

"Thank you," Rufus spat, then slammed the phone shut and put it back into his pocket, then looked again at Tseng, "The enemy is clever, we have to consider every possibility at this point. Even the most preposterous."

The door opened then, Rufus turning to berate the intruders, but could hardly believed what he saw. The pair entered the room slowly, both obviously worn and torn from the road. The shorter of the two had long since ripped the sleeves from his black overcoat, leaving his arms bare from shoulder to fingers. His hair was disheveled, wild, and hanging every which way. The taller had removed his own coat and had wrapped it around his apparently injured right arm. Both of them were filthy, splotched with mud and dirt and grime, their remaining clothing sporting burn holes, dried mud, and even faint splatters of what could only be blood.

"Holy... shit..." The first of the two muttered, stepping closer.

"Director...?" The second breathed.

Rufus himself snuck a hand into his jacket pocket and pinched himself so hard he nearly drew blood. "Well now, it appears that nothing stranger nor worse, nor better could possibly happen today."

"Boss, what the fuck happened?" Reno asked.

"Who did this?" Rude also asked, removing his sunglasses.

Rufus forced a small smile, putting his back to the two Turks, once again looking upon the one in the hospital bed, "Welcome back, boys. I'm afraid you've missed quite the party." After a moment, he turned and strode past the two, exiting the room, "Pay your respects and get yourselves cleaned up quickly. I trust you both still remember where my office is?" Then pulled the door shut as he walked away.

The two remaining Turks exchanged a look.

"Is it me, or does he seem... _not_ happy that we're still alive?" Reno asked.

Rude scoffed, "What, were you expecting a big welcoming ceremony?"

"I'm just saying!" Reno quipped, stepping closer to Tseng's body, "Oh shit, Director. What happened?"

"Come on, partner," Rude said a minute later, placing his sunglasses back on, "Maybe we can find out some answers."

Right then, Reno's biggest fear was finding out whether or not anyone else that they knew had survived since he'd been away.

* * *

 **~ ` ` ` [VII] ` ` ` ~**

* * *

 _~ ` ` ` [WRO Tower; isolation prison unit] ` ` ` ~_

* * *

At that exact moment, deep below the Tower...

Cloud had sat down on the floor, his back and head resting against the solid steel door behind him. Like so many times before, his mind had begun to race, it feeling more more and more of a curtain was being pulled over his mind. How long he had been there he couldn't begin to guess, but it had to be at least several hours, close to a day perhaps? The silence became deafening, to the point where it had begun to make his head hurt. And so he stood up, and began to pace back and forth in the small cell, resorting to talking to himself; if only to hear some kind of noise.

"The silver-haired man attacked Junon so soon after the WRO attacked Fort Condor," Cloud said aloud, turning and walking to the other side of the room, "where could he be getting so much manpower?

"If they could boost their numbers so quickly, how soon before they're going to attack again? He said that day outside Junon, he wanted to destroy every oppressor... what is it he had said? They believe they're the rightful rulers of the Planet. And who does that sound like?"

Cloud paused here to actually laugh, though it was more a sarcastic laugh, "Sephiroth, of course! But he's not a Remnant; a Remnant wouldn't nearly collapse from using a simple summon materia. Kadaj didn't, or so Rufus claimed once... unless maybe there's something about that materia he used."

"That's enough!" A gruff voice suddenly yelled from further down the hallway.

Cloud silenced himself then, going on alert and hearing approaching footsteps. Slowly he walked over towards his door, and peeked out the vertical window on his door. Thin, yet solid bars criss-crossed down the length, just close enough together that one couldn't stick more than their pinky finger out into the hallway. Directly across from his own door was another like his own, and there he knew that Barret was held there. Strange then, that Barret had not made a single sound this entire time. Was Barret even still in there? Had he become lost in his own little zone, talking aloud to himself, that he failed to notice anything else around him?

"Who's there? Reeve?" Cloud called through the window, the footsteps growing steadily louder.

Suddenly, a pair of mako infused eyes swept suddenly across the small window, Cloud making a startled sound and falling back against the hard cell floor.

" _Not quite,"_ Sephiroth chuckled, and stepped right through the steel door. With the two of them within the cell, the space was very cramped.

"Just leave me the hell alone already!" Cloud yelled.

Sephiroth slowly smirked, _"Why, Cloud? I've always enjoyed our little... talks. I think this is my favorite torture of all... you, slowly now not knowing what's real, where I'll appear next."_

"None of this is real; you're _not_ real," Cloud snapped, yet found himself backing slowly into the furthest corner of his cell.

" _Remember our first encounter... outside of the church, before you were besieged by wargs?"_ Sephiroth asked.

And before Cloud could answer, Sephiroth dashed across the cell, took Cloud by the throat and heaved him into the air, slamming him against the wall much like Cloud had Barret the day before.

" _That feels real enough, doesn't it?"_ Sephiroth chuckled, tightening the grip on Cloud's throat.

And indeed it felt real, Cloud feeling the fingers digging into his neck, completely cutting off his air supply. He thrashed and kicked and punched, producing a barrage of noise, but he never noticed. All he saw were those glowing, now flaring bright green eyes.

"I'll... find a way... to be rid... of you...!" Cloud gasped, still fighting and thrashing for air.

" _Oh? Do you think someone will just..."_ And here Sephiroth twirled his right hand in a circle, tauntingly, _"...wave a magic wand, and I'll be banished? No, Cloud. My hatred of you keeps my soul out of the Lifestream."_

"You'll... never... win...!"

" _But I already have, Cloud. You just have yet to realize it."_

"I said that's enough!" A third voice growled outside the cell.

Here, Sephiroth merely dropped Cloud to the floor with a loud sound, and began to slowly deteriorate into tiny black feathers, starting from his boots, _"Fear might be a powerful weapon, Cloud, but here is something to consider. When has fear ever truly saved anyone?"_

Then the apparition fully dissolved in a final puff of black feathers, and was gone. Right then, a man wearing a black ski mask and WRO marine attire stepped in front of the door, to find Cloud still rasping and sitting upon the floor.

"What'n the hell you doin', Strife?" The masked soldier demanded.

Cloud could only shake his head. From the other man's bulky build, and the specially colored patterns on his combat gear, Cloud knew this was no common soldier. No, this man answered directly to Reeve.

"Well keep it down!" The soldier barked, "Your pal in the next cell should be up anytime now."

"Barret?" Cloud asked.

"Big black dude? Yeah, him. Kept fighting us on the way down here, even clocked one of my guys! Had to give him a sedative to knock his ass out!" The soldier laughed, "Took three doses though! Enough to kill a full grown warg; tough son of a gun that one! Almost has my respect."

Cloud shook his head, not entirely surprised.

"Anyway, orders are once Mr. Wallace wakes up, you're both free to make all the noise you want. But until then, not another peep. Ya hear?"

Cloud nodded, knowing he was not in a position to argue.

As the soldier walked away and out of sight, Cloud heard a cellphone ringing. It only rang once before the soldier flipped it open, "Staff Sergeant Wedge here,"

The name caught Cloud's attention and he threw himself against the door, straining his ear to catch bits of conversation as the soldier continued to walk away.

"Yes sir. No sir, of course I heard." A pause. "But why not..." Another pause. "Roger that." Yet another pause, followed by a short yet hearty laugh, "You got that right! Corporal Jessie? I know exactly where she is. Yes sir, over and out." Then a loud _clang_ as a door was shut at the far end of the hall.

"Wedge... and Jessie?" Cloud breathed, his mind instantly flashing back to one of his very first missions with AVALANCHE.

Sadly, those particular memories did not fade from his mind over the years, least of all the tragic end of the three members Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie. They were crushed when Rufus' father destroyed the old Sector Seven plate in Midgar... or were they? Surely that could not have been the same Wedge, as Cloud remembered him as being squat, and pudgy. That man was tall and muscular, bigger even than Barret. It had to be a coincidence.

Silence overtook the entire floor yet again, until Cloud heard a faint moaning, then a grunt, followed by the squeaking of bed springs. Looking across the hallway, Barret's face slowly appeared in the window of his own cell.

"Where the hell we at, foo'?" He mumbled.

"Solitary, or close enough to it; where do you think?" Cloud spat.

Barret bunched up instantly, "Clearly you ready for another ass whoopin', Spikey!"

Cloud temporarily forgot there was over six inches of reinforced steel separating the two, and tried to lunge again, fists banging against the door. "As I remember it, _you_ were the one getting beat on."

"You got lucky, foo'!" Barret was seething now, punching his cell door with his graft hand; but he did little more than make very small dents in the steel.

"Yeah? Maybe once Reeve lets us out I'll show you just how far my lucky streak runs."

"Why wait!" Barret bellowed, and Cloud heard the graft arm whir, click, and disassemble. "I'ma blow outta here and yo ass is mine, Spikey!"

"Barret, no! Wait!" Cloud called, but too late, and ducked down behind his door.

The turret only let out two bullets, which clinged and clanged and ricocheted all around the small holding cell several times. "Shit fuck damn shit shit shit!" Cloud heard Barret scream and jump around to avoid being hit by his own bullets. Finally, all was silent, Cloud slowly standing back up to peer across the hall, expecting the worst.

"Bullet proof steel, moron!" Cloud yelled across the hall, "You think the WRO are really as stupid as you!"

The two security guards watching and listening to all of this via security cameras could only snicker.

Barret had since begun to turn red, again resorting to pounding on the door in hopes to knock it loose, "Keep talkin' shit, Spikey! It's just gonna be that much worse when I get to ya!"

Cloud tried to calm himself, "I might try and convince Reeve to let you stay in there longer, after what you did!"

" _Me_?" Barret laughed, "You're the one kissing Rufus' ass!"

"You also hit Tifa with your graft arm!" Cloud seethed.

"Wh... what! No I didn't!"

"Ask Reeve, he's got the security footage," Cloud retorted, "Right in the stomach, nearly knocked her out cold."

Barret calmed himself then, but not by much, "Aw, shit... I thought it was one of Rufus' guys or somethin'!"

"Well, it wasn't," Cloud went on, "and now you know why I nearly killed you."

"An' that's why I'm gonna pound your damn fool head in when I get out!" Now Barret was just as angry once again.

Again Cloud threw himself against the door, "For your sake, you'd best hope that..."

 _Clang!_

"Shut the fuck up, both of ya!"

Cid suddenly stormed into their sight, and stood dead-center of the hallway between the two, his nostrils flaring in anger, "Fuckin' listen to what you numbskulls are sayin'!"

"Yo, mind your damn business, Cid!" Barret fumed.

"No, fuck that!" Cid yelled, "You two are practically brothers! You've known each other longer than I have and you're talkin' about killin' each other!"

"It's not my fault Barret can't control his anger," Cloud remarked.

"Fuck that too!" Cid cut the other blonde off, "Yer' the one that damn near put Barret through the thirty-first floor! And you!" Here he pointed at Barret, "I thought for sure you knocked Tifa's stomach back against her spine! What'n the hell were you thinkin'!"

"Ya act like I did it on purpose!" Barret bellowed, this time punching the door with his left hand, and splitting his knuckles.

"An' that's my point you braying jackasses!" Cid said, punching the side of his head once, "A fuckin' accident! And Cloud! I don't know what hidden agenda you got goin' with Rufus but it looked to me like _you_ lost _your_ temper!"

Cloud felt as though he had been struck, "There's no hidden agenda, Cid."

"And Barret! You need to let go of whatever samhell grudge you got against Rufus!" Cid went on, "Don't get me wrong I ain't president of his fan club either. Don't you two think we got enough shit to worry about?"

"What are you..." Barret went on, and the pilot interrupted him.

"Tseng got shivved, damn it! Right here in this tower, he's on life support just to stay alive!"

"What? When?" Cloud asked.

"Hell if I know! Point is, now those rebel fucks somehow have access to the home base! Do I gotta spell it out for ya?"

"Yo, Spikey," Barret called across the way, "D'ya see the pattern here?"

"Huh?"

"Think about it!" Barret said, "Every time we go off to fight these mugs, something _always_ happens! Tifa an' the kids, the Seventh Heaven, now Tseng?"

"What's your point?" Cloud asked.

"That there might be a wolf in sheep's clothing, foo'!"

"Reeve had the same thought," Cid added, "he's got the whole Tower on lockdown. Not even a fly can get in here now!"

"An' what if the threat's locked in here with the rest of us?" Barret asked.

Right then, Cloud zoned out, remembering the last message Aerith had passed onto him, the day he and the others returned to the ruined Seventh Heaven, after Junon.

" _Your enemies aren't just on the outside, but on the inside as well."_

And so far, the Cetra had not been wrong in her messages.

"Do you know what's being done about it?" Cloud suddenly asked.

Cid shrugged.

"An' Tifa? She okay?" Barret asked.

"Tougher'n she looks, I know that much!" Cid laughed. "But she's fine, when I left her she was sleepin'."

"Well tell 'er I'm... naw, hell with that," Barret decided, "I'll tell her myself when I get out of here."

Cid nodded, "Well I suggest you two cool yer' jets so ya can get out sooner! We good here?"

Cloud thought for a moment, then nodded, "Good."

"Barret?"

"Yeah, all good here."

"Good," Cid said, then turned and started to walk away, "I'm headed back to keep an eye on Tifa. Catch y'all on the flip side!"

 _Clang!_ And Cid was gone.

"Hey, Barret."

"Yo?"

"You remember when I first joined AVALANCHE back in the day? Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie?"

"Of course, foo'! Why?"

"I need to talk to you about them, seeing as we're not going anywhere."

* * *

 **~ ` ` ` [VII] ` ` ` ~**

* * *

 _~ ` ` ` [South of Cosmo Canyon] ` ` ` ~_

* * *

"Hold yer' fire!" Cait screeched.

Right then, the red-furred creature lunged again, slamming into the manticore and the two falling backwards. The two combatants thrashed thrashed and tumbled, kicking up a billowing dust cloud all around them, clawing, raking, biting and snarling the entire time.

"Samhell!" Cait screamed, "Fight on, everyone!"

The toy cat scampered to the left, leaping through the air and landing in a small half-dead tree. It's tiny fists wrapped around a thick branch and yanked it sharply backwards, snapping the branch free. It ended in a sharp point, and Cait nodded his approval. He then leaped from the tree, landing on the back of one of the mutant scorpions, driving the pointed wood directly into it's head. The creature thrashed and convulsed once, then fell limp and died.

"Sir! They just keep coming!" One soldier yelled over the clamor.

"Jus' keep fightin' lad!" Cait called back, dislodging the branch from it's latest kill, "They gotta give up eventually!"

Cait then dashed toward a skeletal zombie advancing upon him, it's left fist glowing a pale green energy. A burst of green fog erupted from it's fist, knocking the zombie onto it's back, wherein Cait was upon it a moment later.

"Don'tcha know lad!" Cait smirked, standing over the beast, "Zombie movies aren't cool anymore!"

Then drove the pointed end through the frontal lobe, the skull crumbling like dirt.

But then a second skeleton suddenly burst through the sand, it's boned fingers scooping up the tiny body.

"Ack!" Cait screamed. "Mayday! Mayday!"

The creature was ugly indeed, with half of it's face rotted meat and slavering jowls, only one of it's eyes remaining in the socket. It growled a horrible sound, preparing to tear the toy body directly in half.

"Heeeeeelp!" Cait screamed again, thrashing about to try and be free.

A set of canine jaws suddenly clamped around the zombie's throat, completely separating the head from the body, the rest of which crumbled and fell apart. Cait fell hard to the ground, quickly checking itself to make sure it was still in one piece, "I'm alive? Samhell! I'm alive!"

The dust slowly cleared then, and a canine like beast emerged. Cait recognized the eyes, and the feathered hairpin upon it's head, "Well met, Cait."

"Red XIII! Bloody hell lad!" And threw it's tiny arms around the canine creature's neck, "I'm glad ye're still alive!"

Red made a noise akin to a brief chuckle, patting the toy upon the back with his right paw, "As am I to see you still in one piece, old friend."

"Fer' a second there I had feared to be ripped in two!"

Red made the same chuckling noise, "And you nearly were. Ah, I wish that our meeting had been under better circumstances."

The female manticore dropped from the sky then, scorpion tail thrashing left and right, clearly angered. Cait squeaked, "You an' me both, lad! I hope ye brought back up!"

Red's jowls pulled back in what could only be a smirk. He then threw his head back and howled a loud and ear-piercing note. A moment later, the rock formations and even the surrounding landscape seemed to come alive, as men and women suddenly burst from hiding, their bodies painted to blend into the landscape. They were bronze-skinned warriors from Cosmo Canyon, and they pounced on the zombies and scorpions with their native shrieking battle cries.

Cait hopped up and down in excitement, "Lad, I could kiss ya!"

"I sincerely hope that you don't," Red replied, "Come, let us finish this."

Cait bent down and retrieved his pointed branch, then hopped onto the canine creature's back, settling snugly just behind his head, "Just' like ol' times lad! Chaaaarge!"

With a roar, Red darted toward the manticore, throwing himself to the left to avoid a jab by the scorpion tail. Paws dug deep into the ground to slow his momentum, jaws snapping out to take the creature by the left rear leg. Cait used this opportunity to leap from Red's back and land on the back of the beast. Cait soon found however, it had to grip tightly to the fur and scales of the manticore, as it now shook itself and whirled about to free itself from the attackers.

"Don' let go, lad!" Cait screamed.

Red replied with a throaty growl, behind a mouthful of manticore leg.

Cait then looked up, just in time to see the scorpion barb drive itself toward him, and was forced to let go. The last thing he saw of the manticore before it was thrown into the air, was the manticore's scorpion barb driving itself into it's own back!

"Saaaaaaaaamheeeeeeeeeeeell!" Cait yelled as it soared into the air.

Red released the manticore and jumped straight up, for Cait to land safely upon his back, "Caution, Cait! Manticore's are a deadly foe."

"Don' I know it!" Cait panted, "But this one isn't a smart lass!"

Red peered over his shoulder, "How do you mean?"

"Get me back onto her back, an' I'll show ya what I mean!"

Red charged then, coming up from behind the manticore. At the last moment, he jumped straight into the air and quickly arched his back, to launch Cait into the air. At this point, Cait noticed it still had a grip on the wooden stake.

"Incooomiiiiiiing!" Cait called, pointing the stake downward.

The wooden point hit home, digging deep into the monster's back but narrowly missing it's heart. The manticore reared back onto it's hind legs and roared a painful note, the wings convulsing and the scorpion tail twitching. Cait held on, sinking it's tiny teeth into the scaly flesh of the beast. Just as it had hoped, the deadly barb came lurching back in. Cait rolled to the left, keeping a fistful of fir in it's tiny fist; again the toy bit into the flesh, and again the barb shot towards it. At this point, Cait was forced to let go, and fell underneath the thrashing body of the manticore, but Red darted past, scooping it up before it was crushed and rent by the manticore's claws.

"Oi, thanks lad! I owe ye one!" Cait said after Red had dropped it back to the ground.

"This must be ended now," Red said, and took two steps forward.

"Jus' wait an' watch, lad!" Cait said, putting a tiny palm on the canine's shoulder.

The manticore's own venom now worked against it, and with her adrenaline and heart now pumping wildly, only sped up the spread of the deadly poison. The monster gradually moved slower and slower, eventually flopping down onto her stomach, clawing and growling feebly at the ones around her. Finally, the late faded from the manticore's eyes, the wings crumpled flat against the body, and she was no more. For just a moment, Cait felt a sting of pity for the poor, stupid creature.

Around them, the WRO and Red's warriors only continued to trade fire with the other monsters, until the skeletal minions burst into clouds of dust, and the scorpions retreated a short distance and buried themselves into the sand and were no more.

"What'n the hell was that all about?" Cait said, after the other monsters were done.

"There is much we need to discuss, old friend," Red said, padding past him.

"Ya got that right!" Cait replied.

"You don't understand, Cait," Red said in a scolding manner, "There is much wrong in the world, particularly on this side of it."

"It's why Reeve sent me..." Cait began.

Red interrupted, "We can talk at Cosmo Canyon. Collect your dead, for there is no time to bury them; you'll find carts just behind that next ridge to carry them in. My tribe will escort you back; I have to return quickly."

"Oi?" Cait wondered, but Red had already shot away as fast as he could, leaving a small dust trail in his wake.

* * *

Cait and the rest of the WRO soldiers had marveled at the ingenuity of the westerners. Not long after they set out from the battle sight, the tribe directed them to a secret tunnel a half mile away. This tunnel had been burrowed deep into the earth, and had lead directly to Cosmo Canyon. While normally the troop would have had to traverse miles and miles around small mountains and impassable terrain, these tunnels were dug under them for a direct route. What normally would have taken a day or more of marching, was instead reduced to a few hours' hike. Cait took careful note, that every precaution had been taken; every mile mark was blocked off by thick walls of wooden spiked palisades, and at least half a dozen warriors. Cait had also noticed several hidden slots and other doors in the sides of the rock, where no doubt more of Red's tribe lay hidden.

The air was extremely close and hot, and several halts were ordered for the surviving WRO soldiers to pause and drain their water jugs. Unlike their darker skinned brethren, the WRO were very much not used to confined spaces, and Cait shivered to think what it must be like, spending countless hours in near darkness, tons of rock surrounding you on all sides. Finally, the band reached the final checkpoint, this one more heavily guarded than the others. One of Red's tribe, an older 40something with graying black hair who was a member of their escort, traded words with a similar looking guard. Cait could not understand a single word of the native language, but once a team of six guards moved towards the rear of the cave, assumed all had gone well. The six guards then pulled back a large, rounded stone door, which rolled to the left and into a waiting crevice to spill in sunlight which blinded everyone within.

"Finally, starting to feel like a mole down in these tunnels!" One soldier commented.

"Who would wanna be stuck down here?" Another threw in.

"Quiet, ye lot!" Cait scolded, just as he and the first few soldiers emerged from the hole.

Cosmo Canyon was exactly as Cait and the few select troops who had been there before remembered it. The great rock formation towered above the rest of the landscape, it and the surrounding land a dark shade of burgundy, and those that had never been to the Canyon began to mutter and ogled at the sight before them. The tunnel exit was within the boundaries of the canyon, though even on the outside it was just as heavily guarded as the inside. A path had been cut leading up to the actual entrance, with posted guards every thirty feet or so.

Right then, a burly tribesman approached Cait's group, nodding to the toy, "Cait, correct?"

"Tha's me, lad!" Cait replied.

The tribesman nodded, "Chief Nanaki has prepared living quarters for your soldiers to eat and rest, as well a special burial ground for your fallen should you consent to such. This way, the chieftain awaits."

As the WRO troop drew closer, Cait looked up at the highest point of the rock formation; specifically the old watch tower where Red's grandfather, Bugenhagen had dwelled. Once the great scope stood firm and proud, and the rest of the building shone with great excellence. Now however, the entire observatory was decrepit, covered in rust and several outer walls fallen or torn away. The entire structure was very different from what Cait remembered, and was now nothing but a sad relic of an age long gone it seemed.

The troop passed through a final checkpoint and entered the outlying village, built around the base of the great rock formation. Native women and children scurried away into their homes at the approach of the soldiers, while the men watched their every move, a weapon of some form never out of arm's reach.

"Don't mind them," Their guide said to Cait, "The last time strangers were admitted into the Canyon... well, perhaps you should ask the chieftain."

The single wooden door was pushed open by the sentry and Cait, riding on the shoulder of the troop's commanding officer, strode in. The room opened up, somewhat spacious, but only able to host forty or so people. Lit braziers were scattered around the room, but to Cait's amazement, the flames changed color from red, to green, blue, purple, then back to red again. Dead center and in the very rear of the room, there was a section of floor raised an inch higher than the rest, with a wooden throne of sorts, two small flames burning behind it and also changing colors in sync with the braziers. And upon it, sitting on his hind legs, sat Red. Red nodded at the approaching newcomers, the beads clacking in his hairpin, on both sides of the throne stood a guard, heavy spears held close.

"Please, step forward friends," Red called across the room.

Once Cait and the soldier stood directly in front of the throne, Red nodded yet again, "I would speak with Cait in private council," Then rose to stand on all fours, "See that our guest from overseas is treated with respect, as are our his comrades."

The soldier seemed apprehensive to depart, but Cait hopped off his shoulder and onto the floor, "No worries, lad! Go an' rest with the others!"

Only once the room was cleared and the wooden door shut did Red return to his sitting position, "I was not sure if you even required food, else I would have prepared something..."

Cait shook it;s head, pushing a wooden stool in front of the throne and flopping down into it, "No worries, lad! Now... what's goin' on? Reeve and the other WRO haven't heard from ye' since the Brotherhood attacks!"

"As I told you in the field," Red said, "Chaos reigns in all parts of the world, especially here."

Cait leaned closer, "How d'ya mean, lad?"

"Surely you and your comrades have noticed... that many of the monsters seemed to have vanished from the land?"

Cait nodded, "Aye,"

"And as you've seen, when they do appear they come in waves, large groups?"

"Aye, lad! What are ye sayin'?"

Red's face turned grim then, "An evil beast has arisen, Cait, and she appeared not long after the Brotherhood laid siege to Junon."

"Ya know about all that? How?"

Red considered the question a moment, "I'm not without my resources, old friend."

"Ah, well... a' course! But you mentioned a beast... she?"

"Yes," Again Red stood up and padded off the upraised platform, "I've had my scholars digging through old lore books and such. Thus far, only one word has made sense... mother."

Red then stepped towards a rectangular table sporting three wooden chairs, one of which he hopped up into. Cait jumped into one chair, then hopped onto the table, which sported two large and extremely dusty open books, and a few unrolled scrolls.

"Ya mentioned 'mother', what'n the world does that mean?" Cait asked.

Red shook his head, "No one knows, sadly what you see is all we have been able to procure, and none of it makes sense."

Cait flopped down in front of one book, gingerly turning the old parchment page, "What language is this, lad?"

"None of my scribes and scholars know," Red admitted, "however, the theory is that it might be the language of the Ancients, the Cetra."

The toy looked up then, "Could such things from that era even still exist?"

Red merely shrugged, or as close as he could manage.

"What d'ye know of this beast? This../ mother?"

"It's only speculation, and whatever information is before us may be a reference to something entirely different," Red said, "But I recall stories my grandfather told me. She's said to be the one who created the land itself, or rather, Cosmo Canyon."

"Oh?" Cait wondered, truly curious, "Go on then."

Red looked to the floor, sifting through old memories, "The Canyon was once ruled by the beasts, and from it's heart, the Mother ruled over all."

Cait turned another page, and saw a faded picture of some terrible foe, a female humanoid with four arms, the gender being evidenced by the bared breasts in the ancient painting. In each hand the monster wielded something resembling a jagged dagger, orange flames erupting from the open, fang-filled maw. A shiver ran through Cait, as Red continued to speak.

"As well the Canyon, the legends say the Mother also created the first beasts, and she favored the manticore, they being her personal guard and messengers. And then man came, and a bloody war ensued. Somehow, my tribesman's ancestors banished the Mother, and scattered her forces into the dusty winds."

Red paused, realized what he had said, and cleared his throat, "Or so the legends say."

"An' ya think this... mother has arisen again?" Cait offered.

Red shrugged again, "Who's to say? Never have the local monsters banded together like what you witnessed today. Not in those numbers, and certainly not that organized; they don't possess the cunning. I wouldn't want to jump to conclusions, but..." The canine shook his head, "Forgive me, Cait, you did not travel to the opposite side of the world for local bedtime stories." Then hopped off the chair and padded back to sit upon the small wooden throne.

Cait glanced at the painting in the book of what could only be this 'Mother' beast, shivered again, then returned to the wooden stool set before Red, "There is much goin' on ye need to know, lad! Ye already know of Junon comin' under attack!"

"Yes. How fare the others, Cloud, Tifa?"

"Last I heard, Cloud n Tifa were well enough! Barret an' Cid too; they both an' Vincent fought in Junon!"

That brought a small smile to the canine's features, "Ah, what I would have given to have been there, to fight alongside our friends again."

Cait nodded, also seeming to smile, "Aye, lad! Though maybe meself not so much,"

"I've also caught wind of what happened to Yuffie," Red quickly put in, any speck of joy gone from his face and voice, "And for that, I am sorry."

Cait nodded yet again, "A terrible unfortunate thing ta' be sure! But Tseng and meself found out where she's bein' held! I suspect Cloud an' the others are soon to get her back!"

Red made a content sound, "It won't be an easy task. There is another matter that you must know."

"Eh?"

"Bring in the prisoner!" Red suddenly yelled, which startled Cait.

To the left, a hidden door made of rock slowly slid to the left, and the sounds of scuffling and shouting were soon heard. A moment later, two muscled tribesmen entered the throne room, dragging along a shirtless white male with a thick straw bag thrown over his head. The prisoner was bound with thick rope, and despite his precarious situation, continued to struggle against his captors. Finally, he was brought before the throne, one tribesman kicking his feet out from under him, then yanking off the straw bag. He was gagged with a thick cloth, his eyes wildly darting around the room, likely looking for an escape route.

"An' who is this, then?" Cait wondered.

"A Brotherhood messenger," Red said grimly.

"What!" Cait shrieked, "How do ye' know?"

"The tattoos on his skin," One of the armed tribesman answered.

On closer inspection, Cait did indeed notice damning marks, not the least of which being the infamous Brotherhood insignia: JENOVA's face atop three rocky spires, a long and curved blade resembling that awful weapon of Sephiroth's the Masamune and a military rifle shaped into an "L."

"Samhell!" Cait swore, "So far west? But how?"

"I was hoping you could tell me, friend," Red admitted.

"What message was he carryin'?" Cait asked.

"Sadly, he managed to consume it before my tribe captured him. Oh, you can put the scum back where you found him." Red said, nodding to the Brotherhood prisoner. Once he was carted away and the stone door slid shut again, Red went on,

"And worse besides, many of my outer villages are being raided, pillaged. Awful things are happening here, Cait, entire villages are burned, all of the boys and men have vanished, and the women are raped and slaughtered. Why?"

"Bloody..." Cait gasped, "So only the men are missin'?"

Red nodded.

"One of yer' men mentioned somethin' aboot strangers bein' in the Canyon before..." Cait suddenly remembered, "Tha' Brotherhood?"

Now Red's face turned sad, "A small band came, I assume before they attacked Junon on the mainland. They demanded my alliance, or at the very least tributes for the safety of my people. When their commander revealed their ultimate intent, naturally I refused. And so they began to slaughter people, right outside of here, Cait. I believe they knew none of them would survive, and merely wanted to send a message."

"That's awful, lad," Cait said sadly, "but now ye know exactly tha' kind of monsters we're dealin' with! Tha's why Reeve and the WRO need yer' help!"

"And what would you have me do, Cait? I cannot send my own warriors across the seas to fight. Did you not hear me when I said my lands are under siege as well?"

"But..." Cait tried to plead.

But the chieftain would not listen, "I do not wish to see my friends come under harm, do not misunderstand me. But since my grandfather passed, these people are mine to lead now, and to protect. They demand answers, revenge, and what would happen, were I to send the survivors away?"

"Reeve could...!"

"The Brotherhood has clearly already reached this far west, and so if they were to learn the entirety of the villages were unguarded, my warriors would return to smoldering ash and death. I truly am sorry, Cait, but I have to ensure the survival of my people."

Cait heaved a sigh, "It looks as though tha' war is now goin' ta' be fought on two fronts!"

Red likewise sighed, "I am sorry you traveled so far to be so disappointed, but I'm sure Reeve will understand. I shall do what I can from here, keep them from advancing any further out west, but concerning the mainland and Edge itself... I cannot help you."

"I understand, lad," Cait said, slowly sliding out of it's seat.

"Go now, and rest," Red offered, "you all have marched a long way. I'll send word that you and yours may come and go as you please, within reason, and may depart when you are ready. Though, I pray you will at least say goodbye before leaving..."

"Of course, lad!" Cait said, walking away, "Perhaps we'll talk more tomorrow?"

Red agreed, "Perhaps. Rest well, Cait."

As the door was opened by a guard from the outside and then closed again, Red glanced down at his paws, listening to the crackling braziers around him. He then looked upon the left arm rest of the throne, carefully studying the object there. Built into the throne itself was a small stone carving, crafted into the exact likeness of Bugenhagen himself, the stone of the local deep red shade.

"Grandfather..." Red whispered, "...have I made the right choice?"


	3. Smoke & Mirrors

**-Chapter 3-**

 **Smoke & Mirrors**

* * *

 _Pray for me cause I have lost my faith in holy war; is paradise denied to me? Cause I can take no more. Has darkness taken over me, consumed my mortal soul? All my virtues sacrificed, can Heaven be so cruel?_

 _I believe it would justify the means, it had a hold over me. Blinded to see the cruelty of the beast, it is the darker side of me. The veil of my dreams deceived all I have seen, forgive me for all I have been,, forgive me my sins._

 _I'm hoping I'm praying I won't get caught between two worlds, for all I have seen, the truth lies in between. Give me the strength to face the wrong that I have done, now that I know the darkest side of me._

* * *

Tifa did her best to relax, as she lay flat upon the doctor's table and stared up at the beige colored ceiling. The white lights had long since given her a headache, and so she turned her head to the side, instead focusing on the floral wallpaper. She felt something akin to a pinch and a strange sensation, and jumped suddenly, gasping.

"So sorry, dear," Came the second female's voice, "a necessary evil I'm afraid!"

"It's okay," Tifa breathed, trying to control her heart beat.

Her legs had been pushed up and apart, a pale pink cover thrown over them in order to hide the procedure the doctor was performing. To her right sat a tiny metal tray, with small vials containing blood and other bodily fluids collected from her.

"Okay, all done," The female doctor said, and stood up straight, "You can relax now."

Tifa breathed a small sigh of relief and lowered her legs, slowly sitting up and putting her bare feet on the cold floor; she shivered.

The doctor was a kindly woman, mid forties with small box-framed glasses and chestnut hair pulled into a bun. She wore a simple burgundy colored button down shirt and matching blouse, the white doctors coat thrown over that and brushing just three inches from the floor. She picked up a nearby clipboard and slid into a stool, scooting closer to the bed, "Just a couple questions if you don't mind?"

The brunette nodded with a tiny smile, "Of course, Dr. Alison."

Alison nodded, "Sorry if it all seems too personal," Then cleared her throat, "Do you remember the exact time of your last sexual encounter?"

Tifa thought for a moment, "The day the Brotherhood attacked Junon, well... that exact day an... incident happened. But it was the night before that."

The doctor scribbled a few notes, "If I can ask, what sort of... incident?"

"It was nothing relating to this," Tifa answered immediately, the incident in question being her kidnapping by the Brotherhood agents, the Twin Blades.

Alison nodded, "Symptoms like yours don't normally appear so soon... anything else?"

"Well..." Now Tifa blushed, slightly, "The first time me and my..." She paused, and very briefly giggled, "Well, I don't know what you might call him, but..."

"Yes?" The doctor pressed.

"I can't remember the exact date, I just remember everything that happened around that time," Tifa admitted.

"Another rebel attack?"

"Kind of," Tifa went on, "Right around the time before they took Fort Condor. Me and Cloud... well, it just kind of happened suddenly. A heat of the moment situation, you know?"

The doctor chuckled, but not unkindly, "Ah yes, my dear... I have been there and done that. So there was no protection involved?"

Tifa shook her head, "No... as I said, all the feelings and emotions just kinda... burst." At the last word, she felt herself blush again.

"And when did you start feeling nauseous?"

"A few days ago, it just came out of nowhere."

Alison wrote a few more notes, then checked her watch, "Any mood swings?"

Tifa wondered first if what this diagnosis was for was the cause of her outbursts, or something more, "Yes, but... I'm not sure if it's because of that. Stressful times, and fighting in a war doesn't help I think."

"You're right, my dear," The other woman admitted, then tucked the clipboard under her arm and stood up. "Well, I'll get these sent to the lab right away, the results should be back before you know it." Then picked up the metal tray with the vials upon it, and set it aside.

"Thank you, Dr. Alison," Tifa said with a smile, and stood up.

"It's what I signed up for," The other said with a smile of her own. She then removed a small note pad and scribbled something onto it.

"I'm writing you a prescription for the nausea, afraid it's all the clinic can spare until we know for sure; lots of wounded soldiers, you understand."

Tifa nodded, and received the slip of paper, "You'll call me when the results are back, right?"

"Of course, dear! In the meantime, if you're not too sure, have you considered a home pregnancy test?"

"I'm... afraid I'll get caught," Tifa admitted shamefully, "There's just so much going on, and I don't want everyone jumping to conclusions..."

"Well, I'm no expert, but..." Dr. Alison said, and stepped closer to Tifa, "From one woman to another, this might just be the thing that changes everyone's perspective. A child will make a person fight that much harder, especially to stay alive. Whatever you decide to do, I'm sure it will be the right choice."

And then the doctor picked up the metal tray containing the vials, and was gone, Tifa left standing in the medical room in only the night robe provided to her. She stepped over to the small locker closet and retrieved her clothes, pausing to look out the large wall window for a perfect view of Edge. Like always, the sky was overcast with gray clouds, and once Tifa placed a palm on the glass, she discovered it was ice cold. She shivered and drew away, lamenting that she had not thought to bring a coat or jacket with her. She tossed the gown off of her and set about getting dressed, but always she watched the cityscape outside, and wondered. Should she tell Cloud, or any of the others?

What would the consequences or otherwise of that be? How would Cloud react? Would he be angry, sad, afraid, happy, blissful? Would he somehow resent her, keep her closer, change his ways once and for all? And what about Barret and Cid? They would be happy for her she knew... but it was Cloud that concerned her. Maybe he would appear overjoyed on the outside, but fearful on the inside, and he would run away again. He would run away to fight, while leaving her all alone, thinking that he had to fight himself to protect her and the child. Idly, Tifa placed a palm upon her stomach, but still gazed out the window.

"It's still too soon to know for sure," She said out loud.

And that aside, there was still the other matter to confront Cloud about. That being his nightmares, and his odd behavior lately.

He promised.

Once she zipped her vest up and ruffled out the rest of her clothing, Tifa pulled open the door and stepped out. She was instantly greeted by a burly WRO marine, who instantly stood at attention.

"Miss Lockhart!" The soldier said.

For some reason, Tifa giggled, "At ease!"

"Yes, ma'am!" And relaxed.

"Just Tifa, please. Can I help you?"

The soldier shook his head, "President Tuesti wanted me to stay close and make sure all was well."

Tifa raised an eyebrow, "Does Reeve think I need a babysitter now?"

The question stunned the soldier, who fumbled with his words, "N-No ma'am, er, Tifa! I mean Miss Lockhart! Um... damn..."

"It's okay, calm down," Tifa said, putting a hand on the man's shoulder.

The soldier took a steady breath, then nodded, "I think that the President met with Mr. Strife in his holding cell... he requested the President assign someone to watch over you. He, that is, Mr. Strife, wants to make sure you're okay."

Here, the brunette looked away, hiding a smile behind a raised palm. Could it be sincere, or maybe guilt from the blonde's outburst in the office? And if the latter, could she forgive him so quickly?

"Where is Cloud?"

"He and Mr. Wallace are still locked in solitary,"

"I want to see them, please," Tifa said with a wry smile.

"Um..." The soldier began, "I don't think I'm authorized to..."

"It's okay," Tifa calmed him quickly, "Reeve is a close friend, I'll personally make sure you won't get in trouble."

"I don't know if..."

Tifa fought off a sudden surge of frustration and anger, forcing the smile to stay on her lips, "I just really need to see Cloud, okay? Let him know myself I'm all right... it would help both of us more than you know."

Finally, the soldier sighed, though he smiled a small smile, "Yes ma'am. Right this way, I'll take you straight down."

* * *

 **~ ` ` ` [VII] ` ` ` ~**

* * *

 _~ ` ` ` [Edge City; WRO Tower] ` ` ` ~_

* * *

Rufus used the butt end of his cane to push open one of the doors leading directly into his personal office with Elana in tow. Across the room, standing behind a large oak desk, stood Lysa, arms crossed behind her back, and a younger blonde female Turk recruit seated in a chair. Rufus hobbled past them without a word and sat himself behind the desk, gesturing the three females to seat themselves.

"I assume the three of you know why you're here," Rufus stated flatly.

The three women nodded somberly, the blonde recruit looking absolutely terrified.

"And why are you shaking?" Rufus asked, taking notice of this.

"I'm sorry, sir, it's just... Director Tseng? Who would want to do that to him?" She replied, voice just as shaky as her body.

"Someone who is an enemy, obviously," Lysa added, sarcastically.

"But how could they get inside?" Elana threw in.

Rufus drummed his fingertips together, "It's why all of you are here."

"What about the other recruits?" Lysa spoke next.

"A moment," Rufus held up a hand.

To Rufus' right sat two small video monitors, which showed two different angles of the spot right outside the door to the office.

"Sir?" Elana's voice chimed.

"I said, a moment. We're expecting two more visitors."

That piqued Lysa's interest, "Who, sir?"

"A surprise I suppose you could say," Rufus chuckled, "Ah, here they come now. Yes, get in here, both of you!" He suddenly called across the room.

All eyes turned towards the door when it was pushed open, and when the redheaded and bald Turks entered the room, a stunned silence filled it.

"It... it can't be!" Lysa gawked.

"Is it...?" Elana sat frozen in place.

The female recruit said nothing.

Reno smirked his trademark smirk, "Back from the dead, kiddies!"

Rude nodded, and added gruffly, "Gonna take more than miles of wilderness and rebels to kill us."

"Reno! Rude! You're alive!" Elana finally snapped, darting across the room and slinging an arm around the both of their necks. The impact nearly knocked the two men over.

"Damn... chick! Can't... breathe!" Reno gasped, but they both patted her on the back in acknowledgment.

Elana quickly drew away, wiping a stray tear that appeared on her cheek, "You guys just don't understand how happy I am! First I thought you both died in that helicopter explosion, then the Director is attacked... I thought I was the only original Turk left!"

Reno made a ' _pfft_ ' sound, "Should've known we'd come strolling through that door again! Get real!"

Rude added, "We had help, and without her we probably wouldn't have made it."

"Help?" Elana pondered, "Her? Who is it?"

"That doesn't matter right now," Rufus' voice pulled the three from their conversation. "Come, sit."

As the three Turks moved closer to the desk, Reno looked Lysa up and down and grinned, "What up, chick? Glad you're still alive!"

Lysa grinned right back, "Reno, right back at'cha." She then turned her eyes to Rude, and they seemed to sparkle, just slightly, "Rude, I'm definitely happy to see you. Welcome back."

Rude cleared his throat and merely looked away.

"Damn, buddy," Reno leaned over and whispered into the bald Turk's ear, once Lysa looked away, "I think she wants your wiggle stick, man!"

Rude pushed the redhead away.

"Reno... Rude," The female recruit said meekly.

"And who's this?" Reno asked.

"Oh! I'm Mariana, Mary for short," She nodded.

"The one who first found Tseng after his assault," Elana added.

"And now we're going to get to the bottom of this," Rufus said, "Reno, Rude, once again welcome back. Pull up a chair."

"What do we know?" Rude asked, once seated.

"Little to nothing," Rufus replied, reaching into a locked drawer and pulling out a brown business file, looking at the recruit Mariana, "We'll start with you."

Mariana adjusted nervously in her seat.

Rufus licked his thumb and began to flip through the pages of the docket, "Mariana Elizabeth Swars, daughter to one Gregory Swars, one of several acting commanders of the WRO ground forces," Rufus nodded, "Aged twenty-one, you aced all your tests in record time. You should know, given the circumstances, that the Director favored you the most, that you might have been his finest student."

Mariana perked slightly at that.

"For Reno and Rude," Rufus continued, "The attack happened a few days ago, estimated around four-thirty to five-thirty that morning. Mariana, continue."

"Um..." The second blonde female began, and seemed to shrink in her seat when every eye was upon her, "I don't understand?"

"Details, Mariana," Rufus replied, trying to keep his cool, "Tell your two friends there what you told me and the police."

"Yo, relax chick!" Reno said with a smile, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder, which drew a pseudo jealous look from Elana that no one noticed, "Just ease on through it!"

"Well," Mariana recounted the information, "It was just before six, I was leaving my dorm to take my final initiation test. Tseng, I mean the Director, was laying there; there was so much blood... I'd never seen anything like it!"

"What weapon was used?" Elana threw in.

"Ah, right," Rufus chuckled, reaching back into the locked drawer for a second file, "You're fairly naive to the situation as well."

"A knife, and not exactly a kitchen knife," Lysa put in grimly.

"What do you mean?" Rude said.

Rufus removed a few photographs from the second file and slid them across the table to the Turks. They were photos of Tseng's body, the dagger hilt still protruding from his back, photos of the body after the weapon was carefully removed, and still more pictures of the bloody weapon itself. When the pictures of Tseng still stabbed with the knife came around, there were different reactions. Reno and Rude looked to explode, while Mariana and Elana looked to vomit. Lysa's face remained mostly unchanged, having been an eyewitness to the scene.

"What kinda knife is this?" Reno asked, studying the picture closely, "Ain't seen one like this!"

"Exactly," Rufus said, "Although I know I've seen it's like, but only once before... where, I can't recall."

The dagger in question was relatively long, the razor edge having been cute in several places, so that the blade had rows of jagged 'teeth' along it. The hilt had been modified, with brass or steel knuckles serving as hand guards, the knuckles in question ending in deadly spikes.

"None of it makes any sense though!" Elana said.

"Smoke and mirror games rarely do," Lysa replied.

"So it had to be the Brotherhood fuckers!" Reno added.

Rufus nodded, "Who else?"

"But how would they even get inside the Tower?" Mariana suddenly put in.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rufus said, "We have a spy amongst us."

Again silence followed, each of the Turks in turn eyeballing one another.

Rufus chuckled, "Normally, I would threaten the lot of you with imprisonment, should that fact leave this room, but let us be realistic. By now the entire Tower, and likely most of Edge herself, knows of Tseng's assault. I don't doubt that a traitor among us will be the first theory people assume. But I'll say this; it wouldn't be a theory."

"But who?" Elana asked.

"And why?" Mariana added.

"Don't be stupid, chicks!" Reno scoffed, "Ya cut the head off the snake and the body dies!"

"Boss, do you think the assassin was trying to get to you or Reeve?" Rude wondered.

Rufus shrugged, "Who knows, maybe. Now Reeve wanders around with armed marines at all times. If neither of us were the original target, one can be sure we'll likely be next."

"Good thing we're back!" Reno laughed.

"No," Rufus quickly said, "I've other tasks for you and Rude."

Lysa nodded to the two male Turks, "I'm almost always close by, you two can rest easy."

Rufus chuckled, "Lysa has proven herself since you both have been gone. Should something happen to me, I have the proper... contengencies in place."

"What's that mean, sir?" Elana asked.

"Don't worry about it," Rufus said flatly.

"You never did answer my earlier question, sir," Lysa tried to say as politely as possible, "What do we do about the other recruits? As I understand it, the Director was questioning them about... something or the other. Could that be the reason?"

"Perhaps," Rufus considered, feigning ignorance. "The question is what it was Tseng was digging into, and more importantly, why the Brotherhood would want to keep that information secret."

"Oh ho, don't worry boss!" Reno said with a smirk, "We'll beat it out of 'em if we have to!"

"Did the Director approach you?" Rude asked Mariana, turning towards her.

She shook her head, "No, the last time I saw Director Tseng was after he returned from Junon."

"And did he say anything?" Rufus questioned.

Again, Mariana shook her head, "No, sir, we never even spoke. I just... saw him."

Now Rufus' eyes darkened, "Are you sure, Mariana?"

"Y-Yes sir, I swear!"

"No offense boss, but this one don't look the type!" Reno quickly threw in.

"Explain, Reno."

"She doesn't have the look, you know? You stick her worst enemy, bound and gagged in front of her and give her a loaded pistol, I don't think she could pull the trigger!"

"If that's the case," Lysa huffed, "then she won't make it very far as a Turk."

"Enough, Lysa," Rufus chided. Then glanced at Elana, "What's the report from the docks?"

Elana removed a small notepad from the insides of her jacket, pushing it across the table to Rufus, "Still ahead of schedule, sir! Nearly all of Edge is now vacant, save for the soldiers, volunteer first responders, and... the pig-headed."

Reno chuckled, "If you're gonna stick around in the kitchen, why not put on an apron and join the party?"

"Enough. I believe it's time to move on with the next steps," Rufus, using his cane, slowly rose to his feet, the five Turks quickly following suit. He pointed first to Mariana, "Return to your dorm and stay there; I also suggest you not breathe a word of this to any of your fellow recruits."

Without a word, Mariana saluted, then quickly left.

"And you," Rufus now nodded at Lysa, "Find Sergeant Biggs and send him here. After, I want a full report on the Northern Glacier operation faxed to me, ASAP. Shut the door on your way out."

"Sir," Lysa also saluted, and left.

"What's going on, bossman?" Reno asked.

Rufus' face turned serious then, "What I'm about to say, I only trust the three of you to hear. Including Tseng, you four have been with me the longest, and I know none of you three could have a part in his assault."

"Ya mean besides the fact me and Rude here have been absent from class for a while?" Reno chuckled.

Rude elbowed the redhead to silence him.

"Sir?" Elana asked.

Rufus turned away from the three, hobbling over to stand before the wall window, "Shortly after the Brotherhood began to besiege Junon, Tseng had called Reeve. Among other things, he had requested the Turk recruit teams be sent to help. As I recall, the order was passed onto Lysa, who should have been the one to lead the recruits to the city." Here he turned and looked at the others, "Tseng told me that not a single recruit had been present at the battle."

"You think Lysa's the traitor?" Elana gasped.

Rufus shook his head, "Faulty equipment, her not being present when the order was originally given... excuses, reasons, smoke and mirrors. Who knows? Anyway, Tseng was interviewing the recruits about the order to assist Junon, and the second night is when he was attacked."

"Sir, if you don't think Lysa's directly involved, then why did you dismiss her?" Rude asked.

"Because this is war, Rude, and war has always been based on deception." Rufus answered darkly, "As I told the unconscious Tseng, all possibilities have to be considered. Even the ones that are ridiculous. And I also know the three of you will keep this strictly to yourselves."

"What do you need us to do, boss?" Reno spoke next.

Now Rufus turned and, using his cane for support, moved to stand directly in front of the Turks, "To continue doing what Tseng had started, Find out what you can, see if any of them have any direct ties with one another. If they ever went to Junon in the first place, where they come from, why and when they decided to recruit themselves into the Turks, what they had for breakfast the day before..."

"When the dudes go to the bathroom, how many times do they shake it... got it! Everything we can!" Reno grinned.

"And Lysa, sir?" Elana offered.

"I'll look into her myself," Rufus responded, "And? Whatever digging you do, do so discreetly. You three should be able to strike fear and send the message that whatever conversations happen between you three and the recruits never happened."

Rude cracked his knuckles, chuckling briefly.

"If you find anything suspicious, anything at all, even if it seems mundane, you report directly and _immediately_ to me. Not to Reeve, not to Lysa, _me_. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" The three Turks said in unison.

"But," Rufus quickly put in, "Not so soon. Two or three days, a lot of loose lips in this Tower. In the meantime... Reno and Rude, I suspect you should instead take a few combat trials. All of those days, weeks... however long you spent in the wilderness, you're rather rusty."

"Hah!" Reno laughed, "Not exactly! I think at this point I'd rather hit the bar down at the lobby!"

Rude stretched his right arm out straight, flexing the muscle, "Maybe I'll be at the gym, after I have a doctor look at this."

"Gonna train with Lysa?" Reno teased.

Rude punched the redhead in the arm.

"You're all dismissed, by the way," Rufus scoffed, "Elana, take a day yourself. I'll call you if I need you."

As the three exited threw the door, Elana surprised Reno by hooking both of her arms around one of his, "You mentioned hitting the bar? Care if I join you?"

Reno raised an eyebrow, but after a second only laughed and flung an arm over the female's shoulder, "Why the hell not? I'll show ya a good time!"

Rufus in the meantime, resumed his position at the window, studying the same dull, gray cityscape that was Edge. In that moment he had to consider... after this was all said and done, what would he be? What would history remember him as? The tyrant, the savior, the shadow game, or the unknown? A sudden blast of cold air blew in from the nearby open window, ruffling his hair and sending his white coat billowing backwards. Rufus shivered, but did not move from his spot. Just as he was about to be lost into his own mind, the door opened; he didn't even have to look to know who would simply walk right inside.

"Reeve," Rufus said flatly.

"Rufus," The other responded, leaving his two guards outside the office and shutting the door.

Now Rufus turned and moved back to his desk, "And what do I owe the pleasure this time? That's twice in the same day, so I assume it's important."

Reeve examined the five chairs the Turks had left behind, as well the open file and photos upon the desk, "Looks like you've had a busy morning,"

Rufus shrugged, gathering the pictures and files and locking them back in his desk "Just taking care of some business."

"And does that business involve pulling my personal men for guard duty?"

Rufus chuckled, "My, word really does spread fast. That or Biggs has a bigger mouth than I thought."

"So you admit it, then," Reeve continued, sliding into an empty stool, "Why? What are you scheming now, Rufus?"

"Mother of all the gods," Rufus sighed, "why does it always have to be a conspiracy theory with you, Reeve? Last I checked, your special ops team aren't doing anything, and so I asked the good Master Sergeant for a small favor."

"And threatened to have him prosecuted for insubordination," Reeve pointed out.

Rufus sighed again, "Does anyone have a backbone anymore? You'd think the lot of us were still in grade school."

"That doesn't matter, Rufus. I want to know why you pulled two of my own entourage to guard Tseng. You have an entire floor full of Turks and recruits, and with Reno and Rude being back..."

Rufus held up a single finger, it pointing directly at the other man, "Clearly, there is someone in this Tower, this very city that isn't who they appear to be. I have Reno, Rude, and Elana on other tasks, and frankly, they're the only three that I trust right now."

"You think it was one of the other Turks, or the recruits?" Reeve asked.

"I wonder how many times I'm going to be asked that now," Rufus huffed, "I don't know, Reeve. For all we know, it could be one of your special soldiers. Someone has to be answering directly to the rebels, however."

"What makes you say that?"

"Think about it, Reeve," Rufus said with a hard edge, "Every time our forces and theirs have clashed, something else has happened, and something always seems to go wrong. It's like they somehow _know_ what we're planning to do next."

Reeve considered this, a pang of fear shooting down his spine, "If that's even true, it could be anyone." He then paused, and his eyes slowly grew more dark as he stared hard at the other man.

Rufus made a face, "If you say it out loud, I swear on the Lifestream this cane and your teeth are going to be well acquainted. I am well and truly offended that you would even _assume_ such a thing!"

"You said it yourself, Rufus," Reeve glowered, "We have to consider every possibility, even the ones that might seem ridiculous."

Rufus looked stunned, "You bugged my office Why?"

Reeve shot to his feet then, "If you're not the traitor, then why are you suddenly bristling?"

Rufus opened his mouth to speak, reconsidered, then thought something that Reno might say, "And what if I were... having some 'me-time' with a lady friend?"

Reeve had to force his face to remain serious, "Then I would say it's a good thing I skipped breakfast,"

Rufus turned serious again, "I'm angered of you apparently not trusting me, not because I have anything to hide, but for the simple fact of _not trusting me_."

"I'm sorry, Rufus," Reeve said, "but it comes with the security risk. I promise you, you're not the only one that has been bugged."

"And what of Cloud and all his friends? Shall they be as well?"

Reeve shook his head, "There's no reason for that."

"Oh! So you'll trust them but not me, your partner?"

"Cloud and the others have done more for this Planet than anyone else. And unlike you, they haven't given me a reason to not trust them!"

Rufus snorted angrily, "Suit yourself, Reeve, if this is the game we're going to play. And what about everything else? Are you going to tell Cloud any of that?"

"They'll know when the time is right,"

"Oh-ho, perhaps you've just given _them_ a reason not to trust _you._ That pendulum swings both ways you know."

"What's going on with the Northern Glacier operation?" Reeve changed the subject.

"Why are you asking? You already know I have Lysa looking into it, as well what Reno, Rude, and Elana are going to be doing."

Reeve nodded, "Sharper than most, I'll give you that."

"Wouldn't still be alive if I weren't," Rufus agreed.

* * *

 **~ ` ` ` [VII] ` ` ` ~**

* * *

 _~ ` ` ` [S.S Garland, western seas] ` ` ` ~_

* * *

Tara pulled the fur lined coat tighter around herself, breathing in a deep intake of the salty air. She stood out on the prow of the ship, watching the waves splash against the hull as it cut through the water. While the sky was mostly clear, the chilly December winds led many to take shelter against the elements, while those sailors and workers forced to do their duties on deck were simply miserable. Tara found that she enjoyed that moment, the blue of the ocean almost perfectly matching the blue of the sky, and on the far horizon it was sometimes difficult to tell where one started and the other ended. To her right, leaning against the rails was a female sailor, not much younger than herself, and the two quickly struck up a conversation.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Tara commented.

The other woman nodded, "Very, almost makes ya forget what's really going on in the world."

"Almost," Tara agreed, "I've always found it's best to enjoy something while it lasts,"

"Unless that something is a bad boyfriend or girlfriend," The woman giggled, then held out a hand, "Petty Officer Sara Crimin."

Tara accepted the offered hand, "Tara Norfolk," She nodded, thinking that her name as an army medic would mean nothing to a member of the navy. But she was wrong.

"Sergeant Norfolk, the one who went missing, then turned back up in Junon?"

Tara's mind instantly went to Ed, the first one to recognize her when she did indeed return. She forced a modest smile, making a mental note that, if she ever saw the private again, to shoot him for ratting her out, "I'm flattered, but no, must be two Tara Norfolk's."

The female sailor narrowed her eyes, "You sure? 'Cause you got the look, like you've seen things."

Tara shrugged, "Haven't we all seen things? Just a boring civilian is all I am, meeting up with my family in Costa del Sol."

The other woman looked suspicious, but shrugged and didn't pursue the matter, "Well, whatever. None of my business anyway."

Tara inwardly sighed in relief, "What about you?"

Sara shrugged again, "Nothing special here. Joined the navy soon as I hit the appropriate age, started out peeling potatoes like most of the seamen and women you see here, now petty officer third class."

"Have you always been on the _Garland_?" Tara asked.

"Nah, only been on her a few months now. Started out on one of the smaller ships, _Pink Chocobo_ , more a fishing trolley than anything," Sara snorted, "Volunteered for submarine duty, found out quick like I was claustrophobic. Ten megatons of paperwork later, and here I am. I'd like to serve on the _Odin_ though."

Tara nodded, "Captain Deidra is the fiercest sea captain in the fleet, I've heard."

"Oh, she's fantastic!" The other female beamed, "Met her once a couple years ago. No one told me she was a hottie either!" She giggled.

Tara, not expecting that, forced a giggle, "Well... I suppose."

"Ah, don't worry," Sara said, patting the other woman on the shoulder, "You're not my type. Anyway, nice talking to ya, back to doing the duties." Then turned and trotted away.

Tara watched her go, shaking her head and glad to be out of what certainly would have been a forever awkward situation. She had no problems with such things, believing any form of discrimination was childish and silly, yet at the same time that particular comment she did not expect. The prow of the ship cut through a thick wave, the resulting sea foam spraying well above her head, a few thick drops splashing her in the face and shoulders. Her breath left her for a moment, and she began to shiver even harder than before.

"Most would choose to hide below deck,"

A voice caught her attention, and when she turned to face the one behind it, began to glare, "Like a kitchen mouse?"

Vincent nodded, "Like someone with common sense,"

"Where's the sense in not enjoying a beautiful day?" Tara shot back.

The gunman walked past her, to stand as far up the point of the ship as possible, "Because it's a lie."

Tara remained silent for a moment, and studied the man in front of her. The wind whipped past him, throwing the tattered red cloak this way and that behind him. His thick black hair likewise blown backwards, and to Tara, he looked almost at peace, but always prepared for the worst situations.

"What do you mean it's a lie?" She finally asked.

Vincent didn't take his eyes off the horizon, "Fleeting moments that come and go, none of it changes the truth of the world."

"And that truth would be?"

Finally, red eyes turned to stare at her, seeming to look directly into her soul, "That it's a cold, uncaring place that will let you die and not care."

"Sheesh, way to spoil the mood," Tara huffed, "How do you get by with that sunny disposition of yours?"

"I'm still alive, aren't I?" Then he turned away again, "I accept the truth."

Tara stepped closer now, to stand directly next to him, "But if that's the real truth of it, what's the point in living? Don't you have any family?"

Vincent shook his head.

"Loved ones?"

He did not move, nor blink.

"What about Yuffie, then?" Tara spat, "This seems like an awful lot of trouble for one person."

"You're here, aren't you?" He suddenly reminded her.

But Tara didn't back down, "It's different for me. I was with her at Fort Condor, and I couldn't save her. I thought I watched her die, right in front of me. I wake up in the woods with Reno and Rude, practically right outside Fort Condor, then I find out that's where she was the whole time."

"So your guilt is what drives you," Vincent scoffed, "Guilt can kill as easily as a blade or bullet,"

"You don't believe in retribution? Redemption? Making up for your mistakes?" Tara looked up at him.

He scoffed again, "As I told Cloud once... I've never tried."

"Still doesn't explain why you're going on a suicide mission just for Yuffie," Tara argued.

He surprised her by suddenly whipping around, standing with their bodies an inch apart, and his right hand tightly gripping the jacket she wore.

"One shouldn't dig into what is not their concerns. I left the only people that I cared for back on the mainland, in Edge, and now one of those people are in chains. My personal feelings do not concern you, nor are my reasons for my actions, and as such, if you desire honesty? I don't trust you."

He forcefully let go of her coat, and took a step back, "I did not force you to come." And again whipped around, and vanished around the corner. A group of sailors who had seen the entire thing quickly parted to let the gunman through.

Tara bristled then, pulling her coat back into place and throwing back her cut hair, "Surprised _anyone_ likes that asshole," She muttered to herself.

For the next hour Tara remained on the prow, looking for any signs of land, but always there was more ocean. The entire time she replayed her encounter with Vincent over and over again, trying to piece together everything he said. Perhaps that was his way of shutting her out, talking in circles and having a dark and gloomy outlook on life. He said it himself that he did not trust her, and she considered the feeling mutual. It was understandable, she decided, because the two did not know each other, and so far only had one common bond: Yuffie. Maybe things would change as they continued to travel together, maybe not.

"If not, this is gonna be one swell adventure," The woman sighed out loud.

But then again, she had the same opinions on Reno and Rude, the first few days wanting nothing more than to strangle the redhead. As it turned out, she gained two new allies, perhaps even two new friends as well. She more closely considered that situation, looking down into the ocean with a smile. Trials and tribulations had a funny way of drawing people closer together. Just then, six dark shadows raced ahead of the ship, and for a moment she became concerned, even drew back and reaching for her pistol. A moment later, the shadows leaped up out of the water, just as quickly vanishing beneath the surface of the water. They were a breed of dolphins, but with a single large horn protruding from the front of their snouts, and smaller ones running down their spines. Tara laughed at her jumpy nature, and watched the creatures for a few minutes, they racing alongside the ship and always leaping upward out of the water.

"If only you guys could see this," She said, thinking of her family, sister Trinity, husband Marcus and their daughter Rose, and even Yuffie.

She would see them all again, just as she would see the Turks again. Nodding, she finally turned and left the upper deck, pushing open a steel door and descending the stairs in front of her.

Three more doors and two more flights of stairs later, Tara deduced that she was indeed, very much lost. She hadn't seen another sailor, or anyone for that matter in some time. Down here, the hallway was dark, with dim lights hanging overhead, swaying slowly one way and then the other as the ship rocked. On either side of her were large crates, tightly bundled with straps and nets, large black stamps reading _'WRO'_ and _'PROPERTY OF...'_ with strange letters she had never seen before.

"Shit, I take it this isn't the chow hut," She said out loud, her voice echoing off against the steel.

She took five more steps, then another voice called out to her, "Not quite!"

Tara froze then and whirled around to see a large man standing in front of her. He was completely bald and clean shaven, with a nasty thick scar across the right side of his scalp.

"Who the hell are you, sailor?" Tara stood her ground, hand shooting to her pistol.

The man laughed loudly, "Ain't no sailor, bitch! Oh, but don't tell the boys upstairs that!"

"What are you..."

Before she could finish, a body slammed into her side, knocking her hard against one of the thick wooden crates. Her hand instead fell on her knife, and she quickly sliced it outward, the man who shoved her aside receiving a shallow cut across the inside of his elbow. However, just as quick a third man came around the corner, wrapping his meaty fist around her wrist, and twisting it so she dropped her weapon. Tara in answer swung her left fist around, clocking the third man straight in the nose, forcing him backward.

"C'mon ya pansies!" The original, largest man continued to laugh.

By now Tara had found her senses, reaching for her fallen knife with her left hand and the right snatching her pistol out. Just as she threw her pistol out, the second man snuck up to her left, reaching for her; a moment later he fell backward dead, a bullet in his brain. However, when she did that, her back had been turned to the third man, who quickly ran up and wrapped his arms around her smaller frame, lifting her up and thus binding her arms as well. Air left her lungs as the man began to squeeze as hard as he could, her legs and feet thrashing to strike any weak spot or vital organ of some sort.

Now the first man stepped closer, bending down to pick up Tara's dropped survival knife, "Now here's a pretty thing!" He chuckled, then just as quick began to slice and tear at Tara's shirt.

Tara thrashed and screamed, sinking her teeth into her captor's finger when he tried to silence her; she paid for it with a backhand across the mouth from the knife-wielding man. Her mind flashed back to her and the Turks' journey, remembering the battle with the Brotherhood soldiers in the forest, and knew at once who these men were.

"How did you rebel shits get onto a WRO battleship?" Tara yelled, hoping the noise could catch someone's attention. She paid for it with yet another backhand across the mouth; she spat out a wad of blood.

"Scream all ya want, bitch! Ain't nobody gonna hear ya down here!" The first man laughed, "You WRO fucks ain't as clever as ya might think! We got eyes and ears _everywhere_!"

"But how?" Tara pleaded, trying to buy some more time, and hoped.

"I think ya better be more concerned with what me an' my boy here are about to do to that pretty little body!" The second man chuckled into her ear, as the first used her own knife to slice away the fabric of her bra, yanking it free and leaving her completely exposed.

"No! **No!** I'll fucking kill you!" Tara screamed.

"Not before we kill you!" The first man laughed even louder, and reached for her pants.

 _KA-POW!_

Tara was suddenly sprayed with blood, as the bullet entered the back of the man's head and blew his brains out of his temple.

"Wh-what the fuck!" The man holding Tara yelled in a panic, and released her. Tara, more concerned with covering herself then getting revenge, picked up the largest piece of her coat and held it around her chest.

"Fuck this noise, I'm outta here!" The remaining man said, and turned to flee.

Tara quickly looked around, seeing her pistol laying a foot away. She snatched it up, pointing it at the retreating man's back. Before she pulled the trigger, a shadow fell from the darkness of the ceiling to land directly on the militant. She heard him scream, the shadow hoisting him into the air and then throwing him behind a row of crates.

"N-No! Please! Somebody, heeeeelp!" The sound of the doomed man's frantic pleas made Tara shiver.

" _HEEEEL..."_

Tara then heard a sickening sound of flesh being sliced open, followed by gagging, choking, and finally, a final _KA-POW_ of a gunshot, which startled her so badly she dropped her own pistol.

Vincent emerged from the shadows a moment later, "Are you hurt?"

Tara shook her head, collecting her weapons and trying feebly to hold the tattered cloth around herself.

Vincent made no sound, but removed his cloak and wrapped it around her; Tara noted the golden, clawed gauntlet he wore was stained with fresh blood. She shuddered again.

"What happened to not trusting me?" Tara asked.

"Doesn't mean I wish any harm to befall an innocent," He responded simply.

Tara decided to accept that reply, and looked down at the two dead men nearby, "Those guys were..."

"...Brotherhood rebels," Vincent finished for her. "Which means that Reeve and the WRO are in greater peril than we first thought."

"How, though? How could they get onboard in the first place?"

"Look at them," Vincent told her, and when she gave him a puzzled look, he bent over one body, "What would they look like, had they not assaulted you?"

Tara pulled the red cloak tighter around her, squatting down to examine the bodies, looking for any obvious marks or tattoos. "They look like normal people,"

"Exactly," He said quickly, standing up and helping her do likewise, "There are more refugees than soldiers in times of war. And with so many wanting to flee the chaos, it's easy to sneak soldiers onto a ship, or onto a train."

"Crap..." Tara breathed, "They could have sleeper cells all over the world and we wouldn't even know it!"

"Come," Vincent bade, and turned to exit through a nearby door.

"Where are we going?" Tara followed behind.

" _You're_ going to your room, and _I'm_ going to have a word with the captain. Reeve has to know so that he can take the appropriate steps."

Tara, not feeling like arguing just then, agreed. She certainly didn't want to wander around a ship half-naked, instead wanting to hide in her room and let Vincent handle the hard decisions right then. The realization hit her just how dangerous the world really was, and that maybe there was some truth to what Vincent had said to her earlier that day. Maybe the world really was a cold and uncaring place. Underneath the red cloak, she touched the small locket she kept with her, and pushed the dark thoughts away. She would see them all again.

* * *

 **~ ` ` ` [VII] ` ` ` ~**

* * *

 _~ ` ` ` [Edge City, solitary confinement] ~ ` ` ` ~_

* * *

Cloud sat himself on the cot, letting his feet rest on the floor, he leaning forward and placing his arms onto his knees, his upper body bent forward. He stared at his boots, tracing the length of the laces and the buckles, letting his mind roam. Outside the cell it was mostly quiet, but ever so faintly soft jazz music could be heard. Earlier that day, the guard had returned to check on the both of them, and Barret somehow talked the man into procuring a small radio for his cell. The soldier agreed, and had been the one to deliver their meals and such things; Cloud had not seen the one called Wedge since the first time.

"If I was forced to listen to nothin' but my own breathing for this long I'd probably wanna be a terrorist too!" Barret had said.

It did somewhat surprise Cloud that Reeve had agreed to such a thing, but then again he wasn't a stranger, and likely felt horrible about having to lock the two of them away. His and Barret's time in solitary hadn't been entirely terrible; they both got three meals, a place to sleep, Barret had his tiny radio, while Cloud himself only requested one item, the photograph of himself and all seven of his closest friends. He looked up at the picture now, sitting upon the nearby sink, then reached over and brought it closer. First his eyes fell on Tifa, tracing his index finger around her face, managing a small smile. Next his eyes went to Vincent, he wondering where exactly the enigma was at that moment? Then to Yuffie, likewise wondering where she was, and when he and the others would see her again. Vincent seemed adamant that the Brotherhood would not harm the woman, Reeve and Rufus likewise agreeing that, in order to barter Wutai's loyalty, she would need to be whole.

"Will we all ever be together again like in this picture?" Cloud wondered out loud.

Out in the hall, Cloud heard the thumping of boots, and when he turned towards the door, A soldier was there, masked, peering in.

"All good here, Strife?" He asked.

Cloud nodded, "I'm fine,"

The masked soldier nodded, and was gone from sight. Cloud now recalled a conversation he had had with Barret earlier that day, or had it been yesterday?

" _You remember when I first joined AVALANCHE back in the day? Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie?"_

" _Of course, foo'! Why?"_

" _I need to talk to you about them, seeing as we're not going anywhere."_

 _Barret snorted through the small window of his cell door, "Why'n the hell you bringin' up the past for?"_

" _Because our guard, the one who's watching over us, or used to anyway, his name is Wedge." Cloud pointed out._

 _That got Barret's attention, "What! You sure? Is it the same guy?"_

 _Cloud shook his head, "Unless it's a wrong memory, I thought Wedge was... well, fat. This guy is tall, muscular, even bigger than you!"_

" _Mother of..." Barret thought for a moment, "An' lemme guess! There's a Biggs and Jessie too?"_

 _Cloud nodded._

" _It's gotta be a coincidence! All three of 'em were crushed when..."_

" _Sector Seven was destroyed, yeah I remember," Cloud interrupted. "But... maybe there's a chance, you know?"_

 _Barret disappeared from sight, "Fat chance, foo'. Damn man, why'd you even bring this shit up!"_

" _Better I tell you now then find out when we're released, and then probably end up right back in here,"_

" _What about Biggs an' Jessie? You seen them yet?" Barret asked._

 _Cloud snorted, "No, but here's the best part, I overheard 'Staff Sergeant' Wedge talking on the phone, and whoever this Jessie is, is a girl."_

 _Barret said nothing, stunned._

" _But," Cloud quickly added, "you might be right. When I asked this Wedge about you, he only called you 'the big black dude' and 'Mr. Wallace.' So it's gotta be a coincidence."_

" _Man, shut up foo'! You're making my head hurt worse!"_

Cloud shook off the memory, but still considered the possibility that maybe, just maybe it was the same trio he fought alongside with during his false SOLDIER days.

 _Clang!_

At the sound of the door opening, Cloud placed the photo onto his cot and moved to look out the cell door window. Across the hall, Barret had since fallen asleep, and no sounds came from his cell to indicate he had been disturbed. And when the visitor entered his sights, he felt his heart race just a little bit.

"Tifa?" He breathed, "How did you..."

Tifa smiled at him, stepping as close as the cell door would allow, "Called in a favor, I guess you could say. How are you?"

Cloud shrugged, "Can't complain, but I still want to."

She giggled, "I bet. Barret?"

"Barret himself is fine, snoring away as you can hear."

"And... you and him?"

"We're fine too; Cid came down and gave us a tongue lashing; you'd have loved it."

Tifa giggled again, "I may or may not have had something to do with that."

Cloud smiled, "I figured you might have," Here he placed his palm against the mesh screen, trying to be as close to her as possible, "I'm glad you came down here, though,"

Tifa followed suit, her hand just a little smaller than his own; in that moment they were so close and yet so far away, "Me too."

Here, Cloud dropped his voice to a whisper, "I haven't forgotten my promise, Tifa. Just as soon as Reeve lets me out of here, we're going to have that talk. I don't wanna do it here, because..." And here, Cloud's eyes trailed off of hers.

Tifa followed his gaze to the security camera directly above Barret's own cell, and aimed directly at the pair of them, the red light above signaling it was active.

"Audio too?" Tifa whispered.

Cloud nodded, "I wouldn't doubt it."

She sighed, "I tried to leave, you know. Go back to the bar, Reeve apparently isn't having it."

"Yeah," Cloud replied, "Cid said the whole tower is on strict lockdown."

"Doesn't give him the right to hold us prisoner," Tifa added, then blushed, "I mean... you know."

"No, I know," Cloud said with a small smirk, "But it's different for me. We shouldn't be kept here."

"I guess Cid also told you about Tseng?"

Cloud nodded, "Yeah, so I guess I can see Reeve's concerns."

Tifa pushed her face against the window, "Well, the guards told me that they might release you and Barret in a couple hours." Here, she reached into her shirt and removed a thin rolled piece of paper, which she discreetly pushed through the window to him, "This is the room Reeve gave you and me. So when you get out, that's where I'll be."

Cloud accepted the paper, tucking it into his pocket, "My first stop, promise."

She smiled again, "Gotta run, love you."

"Love ya back,"

She walked away as slowly as possible, never breaking eye contact until she was out of his sight. The door was pushed open, her escort standing there waiting for her.

"Everything all right, Miss Lockhart?" He asked.

She nodded, "Take good care of my boys, especially Cloud. If he thought Cid's tongue lashing was bad, he's in for a surprise when he gets out of there."

* * *

 **~ ` ` ` [VII] ` ` ` ~**

* * *

 _~ ` ` ` [Somewhere between Fort Condor & Junction Town] ` ` ` ~_

* * *

Tormuj had withdrawn inside of himself during much of the journey, the only sounds being the constant radio chatter, which he learned to ignore, and the humming of the engine. They were close now, he knew; close to yet another mysterious stop on their journey. This would be the fourth, and each time it was insisted (during the first stop, even forced) that he remain in the truck. This time, however, it would be different. The bronze-skinned man turned his green eyes to the man sitting directly across from him, and studied him more carefully. Baron Devlynn sat there, his gaze looking out the small window of the vehicle, both of his bony hands resting on the walking cane in front of him. There were not many things in the world that made his skin crawl, but Devlynn, with his skeletal face, brushed back platinum blonde hair and just the way he _spoke_ , truly unnerved Tormuj.

"Sir Baron," The foreigner said at length, "how many more of these stops shall there be?"

Slowly, Devlynn turned his gaze to the other man, "Why, foreigner? Eager to return to that cesspool, the Junction?"

Tormuj smiled a small smile, "Eager to be out of this truck, sir!"

Devlynn scoffed, "This should be the last one."

Each time the man had returned from his 'trips', he always returned wiping the last bits of blood from his hands and face. That alone made Tormuj more eager to discover exactly what was being done.

"Shall this one accompany you this time, sir Baron?"

The other man scoffed again, "I was told by boss himself that none but my own team are to enter the labs."

Tormuj leaned forward, widening his smile, "Please, sir Baron! I'm extremely curious, and I won't tell if you won't!"

"You're a very persistent savage, aren't you?"

"Savage? How do you mean, sir?"

Now it was Devlynn's turn to lean forward on his cane, "Any person who struts about as you do wearing dead animal furs is clearly a brainless barbarian."

Tormuj leaned even closer, "You wound this one, sir. But this one has heard more than enough stories and rumors to know that the good Baron is just as much a barbarian as this one!"

Now Devlynn leaned back, smiling a small smile of his own, "And you wish to know if there are any truth to those rumors and stories."

"This one is a good secret keeper, sir Baron."

At that moment, the truck and the rest of the ten trucks of the convoy screeched to a sudden halt. Devlynn peered out the window to confirm their location, considered the situation, then chuckled, "Very well... Tormuj is it? Come with me." Then exited the vehicle.

For the most part, the band was in the middle of nowhere, with rolling brown hills of dead grass all around them, a stretch of trees far in the distance. The closest thing nearby was what appeared to be a run-down, long abandoned house, with rotten wood, missing shingles, and the door itself barely hanging onto rusted hinges. The black-clothed militants fanned out around this building, and a small team of six kicked over the door and rushed inside. A moment later, gunfire rang out, with five more men rushing in and leaping through the open windows. Devlynn and Tormuj stepped close to the commanding officer of that troop.

"Warg," A crackled voice came over the speaker on that man's belt, "just a wild warg."

Devlynn sighed, "Has it truly been that long since I came to this location?"

The commanding officer held the radio closer to his mouth, "What's the sitch?"

"All clear," Came the reply.

"You're good to go, Baron," The officer nodded.

Tormuj followed the man into the run-down building, which looked just as bad on the inside as it did the out. Much of the floor had long since rotted away, with several large holes here and there. And aside from an overturned (now bullet ridden) table in the corner, the room was empty.

"Sir Baron, this one doesn't understand why we're here!" Tormuj said.

"Shut your disgusting mouth and you'll soon see." Came to reply.

On instinct, Tormuj began to reach for a dagger, but remembered there were eleven militants around them, and instead pretended to adjust his belt.

Devlynn then stepped into a corner, raising his cane into a horizontal position; Tormuj thought the man was going to throw it, like a spear. With a soft grunt, Devlynn instead thrust the butt-end into a tiny hole in the wall, only to then turn the cane as though it were a key. All around him, Tormuj heard faint clicks, and suddenly, a large section of floor just to his left lowered an inch, then began to slide backwards. Tormuj watched all of this with a false awe, the rotted wood sliding back to reveal a metal staircase that led down into darkness.

Devlynn then stepped over, cane leading the way, "Forget everything about this world, foreigner, and prepare to enter my own." Then turned away and started down the stairs.

Tormuj, ignoring the pit in his stomach, slowly followed after; none of the militants followed.

The entire corridor was dark and dim, with only a single overhead light hanging every twenty feet or so; the areas in between were completely pitch black. Steel lined the walls, ceiling and roof, and Tormuj felt like all of it was slowly closing in on him.

"How could anyone live here, sir Baron?" The shaman asked at length.

"Not claustrophobic are we?" The Baron snickered.

"This one prefers the openness of the world outside is all!" Tormuj offered.

Devlynn scoffed, and did not pursue the matter further.

 _Clang, cu-clang, cu-clang, cu-clang_ , went the patter of boots on the steel floor, and it was soon the only sound in this enclosed space. After a few minutes, the room opened up into a larger space, though it was still considerably cramped, with the small team of six, including the Baron and the shaman. What the latter soon realized, was the faint sounds of crying and screaming, still far out in the distance. In the room were two closed doors to the left and right, each one guarded by a single sentry; water slowly dripped from the overhead pipes, creating a musty, even salty smell within. The door to the left opened suddenly, and out walked a tall, lanky man with balding hair and a lab coat over his military attire.

"What is the situation, minion?" Devlynn asked the newcomer, who placed a clipboard into his hands.

The newcomer nodded, "Ahead of schedule, Baron, we've just shipped out another truck load just before you arrived."

Devlynn made a satisfied sound, "Good, good. What of the formula?"

Now the newcomer hung his head, avoiding the other's gaze.

"Should have expected as such," Devlynn spoke, "no matter, now that I'm here perhaps I can get to the bottom of it this time. You," And pointed to one of the sentries nearby, "lead the way to the lower chambers."

"And you," This Devlynn said to Tormuj, "last chance to turn away."

But the shaman stood his ground, even smirked, "I'm with you to the end, sir Baron!"

"For your sake, you'd best hope not," Baron chuckled, then followed the guard through the open door, the others following close behind.

 _Cu-clang cu-clang cu-clang cu-clang_ again the sound of walking boots pattered down the hallway and, Tormuj noted, the sounds of painful screaming and crying slowly grew louder and louder. The group marched on, often passing by holding cells, and the dirty arms and hands of prisoners reaching past the steel bars, begging and pleading. Many of the spaces were cramped, with ten people in a cell meant for perhaps five or six, and each voice begging for food or water. Tormuj could only watch with a sick feeling as the prisoners were forcefully shoved back into the filthy, cramped cells, and neither male nor female were spared the occasional butt-end of a rifle or pistol. The Baron, ever stoic and indifferent, only marched on, eyes always looking straight ahead.

"Monstrous..." Tormuj muttered to himself, green eyes looking left and right to the poor souls trapped here, beneath the cold earth.

"Did you say something, foreigner?" Devlynn asked coldly, but never broke stride.

"Nothing, sir Baron," Tormuj replied, a dark undertone in his voice.

The Baron chuckled his usual fashion, "I take it you're not impressed?"

Tormuj fumed then, "War is one thing, sir Baron, but this? This is atrocious! Cruel, even for the Brotherhood!"

Only then did the Baron halt, wheeling around on the heel of his boot; behind the two, a pair of militants raised their rifles at the back of the shaman's head. Devlynn spoke then, calm, collected, and heartlessly,

"Now you listen well, savage. I do not know, nor do I care to know how warfare is conducted where you're from. Nor do I know, nor care how the silver-haired man went about his ways, but there is a new world order on the way, and like it or not, _this_ is the reality of it. And if you cannot stomach that, I'm sure these fine gentlemen here have no problems putting a bullet or ten into you."

At his sides, Tormuj's fists clenched tightly, looking first over his right shoulder, and then his left at the two guards. He was sure he could kill them easily enough, but what would the consequences be? Would he be able to escape this place in one piece, or alive?

"Well, savage," Devlynn spoke, tapping his cane once on the hard floor to produce a loud _clack!_ "What shall it be?"

Tormuj quickly weighed his chances, and slowly relaxed his stance. He knew that, were he to escape, he could never explain to Reij why his right-hand man, the Baron, suddenly went missing.

"The good Baron has much to teach this one, I fear!" Tormuj finally said, forcing a smile and a neutral tone to his voice, "This one is still quite unaccustomed to other's ways of war!"

"Yes, well," The Baron huffed, turning and continuing down the hall as the two guards lowered their rifles, "remember your place, savage."

Tormuj glanced a final time at the last cell, and the dirty and sad faces of those kept within, and walked on.

Soon enough, the group rounded a corner that opened up into yet another square shaped room, though this one sported three doors, as well a large rectangular window that was pitch black within that adjacent room. Unlike the previous room, there were no guards or sentries here, and the painful cries were now a muffled roar, and coming from all around them.

"Welcome to my world, Tormuj," Devlynn said with a cold glee, "it is here you will find the truth you seek of the stories about me. Stand there," and pointed with his cane to the large window.

Tormuj did as such, as Devlynn began to peel off his duster overcoat, next removing the black vest and tie, hanging them on a nearby rack built into the wall, leaning his cane against the wall. The other item upon this rack the Baron removed, a butcher's smock, and quickly threw it over himself and tied it in place. As he began to roll up his sleeves, a shrieking buzz broke the silence, starling Tormuj, and one of the nearby doors flew open. In walked two more flunkies of the Baron, with matching lab coats, as well the skulking creature Ramsey that Tormuj remembered seeing just before they departed from Fort Condor.

Devlynn pulled on white latex gloves, nodding to the newcomers, "I trust the specimens are ready?"

One of the two scientists nodded towards the window, "Fresh from the rack; a couple of them we already took the liberty of preparing for you."

"Ramsey?" Devlynn looked to the hunched over creature,

Ramsey began to twitch and snicker, saliva oozing from his mouth, "Ramsey always ready to help! Ramsey brought master his tools!" And awkwardly removed a leather bag from his neck, which Devlynn accepted.

"Very good, let us see what we can find out," The Baron chuckled, and moved to the door beside the window. He turned to Tormuj, "Watch, and be amazed, savage. If you find you cannot stomach what you're about to see, there's an open vent in the floor over there," And pointed.

Tormuj said nothing, instead watching as the Baron and the creature Ramsey entered through the door and slammed it shut behind them. A moment later, florescent lights flickered to life in that room, and what the shaman saw forced the air from his lungs.

The room was small, but still somewhat spacious, with two operating tables bolted into the floor. Upon each of which was strapped a man, one with pale milky skin, the other swarthy and leathery dark skin. Both of each of their knees had been cleanly sliced from ankle to kneecap, with white towels tucked underneath the legs, and incissors and hemostats clamped to the flesh, which was peeled back to reveal the sinew and muscle beneath. The pale man's side had likewise been sliced to reveal his ribcage, but was quickly stuffed with towels by Ramsey, to prevent the man from bleeding out. Both had been tightly strapped by the arms, legs, chest and waist, and a thick leather belt had been stuffed into their mouths to gag them. When the lights lit up, they seemed to struggle all the more; Tormuj could hear their muffled pleas from an overhead speaker.

"Now now," Tormuj head Devlynn say as he stood over the dark skinned man, "the more you struggle, the faster you'll bleed out." And chuckled darkly.

Tormuj's stomach twisted into a hard knot, looking upon the poor souls, but knew he could do nothing about it. Only then did he notice a third victim, and looked to vomit. Strung up on the ceiling was a woman, her hands tightly bound above her head and hanging by them from a thick hook and chain. She appeared to be of the same origin was Tormuj, with bronze skin and jet black hair; she was completely nude, but otherwise appeared untouched.

"Let us start with you, then," Devlynn said, looking upon the dark-skinned male, removing a long and thick object, resembling an ice pick as well a hammer. "Ramsey, attach the line."

The hunchbacked creature quickly scurried over to a nearby cabinet, wherein he removed a long, thin white hose and a bag. One end of the hose was jammed into this bag, while Ramsey then hopped onto a rolling stool and handed the other end to Devlynn. Devlynn popped the end of the hose with his teeth, and screwed this end into the long pick. The Baron aligned the pick so that it would pierce between the first and second rib.

"This should only hurt until... well, I do something more painful to you." Devlynn smiled.

"Mmffmfmmff!" Tormuj heard the man's muffled voice.

Then Devlynn hammered the end of the pick with the mallet, driving the pointed tool into flesh and bone. The gagged screams happened then, a horrible and awful sound. The inquisitor then tilted the pick, and a flow of blood surged from the thing, down the hose, to quickly fill up the bag.

"Oh dear, that felt like bone," Devlynn sighed, "No matter." Then clicked his tongue. "Ramsey, the sample."

A small vial with a dark green substance was then placed into his already bloodied gloved hand. He drew the liquid out with a small syringe, flicking it with his finger a few times. "Ramsey, remove the pick."

"Good Ramsey always helps!" He snickered, then forcefully ripped the pick free, to invoke still more muffled screams. A moment later, Devlynn jammed the syringe into the open wound, depressing the stopper.

The man then began to convulse and twitch, Devlynn quickly unfastening the gag around his mouth. The cries of pain and choking rang even louder now, Tormuj having to force himself to not cover his ears.

"Quickly, the second sample!" Devlynn said hastily, repeating the motion of drawing out the liquid and jamming it into the same spot.

The dark-skinned man continued to thrash against his table, then suddenly remained silent. A nearby EKG machine began to buzz, showing that the man had flat-lined. Just as quick it began to beep rapidly, and the victim pushed himself upward, his muscles bulging, veins surging throughout his body. He growled an angry, awful sound, with Ramsey and Devlynn stepping back towards the exit door. With a final grunt and a snarl, the straps broke free and the man shot up from the table, with his muscles continuing to grow, and he himself seeming to become larger and larger. Ramsey panicked, and tried desperately to escape the room, but Devlynn could only laugh, and clapped his hands twice to draw attention to himself.

"Whom do you serve, creature?" The Baron asked the still twitching and growing man.

The victim in question turned to the other two; by now he was so large that he was forced to bend forward just to fit in the room, "B...Broth...er...h..."

Then something changed. The man's right arm began to twitch, and began to swell larger and larger, with no other parts of his body doing the same. Instantly he panicked, spinning around and shattering the nearby EKG machine and even the table he had previously been strapped to. The other man could do nothing but watch in horror, until the gargantuan arm slammed down onto him, shattering the table and forcing it (and thus the victim) down into the steel pipe, which gored him through the stomach and killed him instantly. The female chained to the ceiling had long since woken up, and added her own screams to the noise. By now, the monster's arm was much larger than the rest of it's body.

"Calm down, you damn beast!" Devlynn shrieked, and reached for his belt.

But it was too late. A moment later, the arm suddenly, violently burst in a shower of blood, gore, and fragments of bone, which scattered in all directions but somehow narrowly missing both Devlynn and his assistant. On the outside, nearly half of the window had been spattered with gore, and it was difficult to see just what was going on inside. But he heard the Baron heave a sigh, above the even more frantic screams of the sole remaining victim.

"Such a pity," Devlynn sighed, removing his rounded spectacles and wiping blood from them using a nearby rag, "I thought for sure I had found the proper formula this time. All is well, now it is time for fun!"

Tormuj ducked down, trying to see past the blood staining the window, and watched as Devlynn now stood in front of the chained, naked female. She thrashed and tried desperately to move, with her feet dangling a mere inch from the floor, making any form of movement impossible. The bronze-skinned man then watched as the Baron's creature wrapped itself around the woman's legs, clutching them tight together so that she was well and truly helpless.

"Ssshhh," Devlynn cooed, reaching for his belt and removing a small handsaw, "It's okay, my dear. It'll all be over soon. I promise."

Tormuj jerked himself away a moment later, unable to watch anymore, the shrieking cries of the woman following him all the way down the exit corridor, and back to the surface. Things were much worse than he thought.


	4. Restless Souls

**-Chapter 4-**

 **Restless Souls**

* * *

 _Through moors and mists of deception, the uninitiated are conjoined; illusive bliss feeds obsession, a feeble orientation is provoked (is provoked)_

 _Inflammatory bonds will be broken,being the Shepherd no more, yearning for that ever-glowing token in ongoing lore_

 _Images appear before m,y eyes at any given time. Burdened, bearing all their lies; leeping laughter and secret smiles_

* * *

"C'mon Rude! I'm starting to think all that time in the woods has you rusty!"

"Hmf, you wish."

Rude backstepped in a circle around his opponent, left fist held close to his chest and his right arm stretched out directly in front of him. He was completely shirtless, with loose fitting sweat pants and bare feet, with padded gloves on his hands. Through it all, he still wore his trademark sunglasses.

Across from him was Lysa, her red hair pulled into a high ponytail, the same padded gloves on her hands. She wore a black tanktop cut just below her chest-line to expose her midsection, tight fitting black athletes shorts, with tape wrapped around her ankles and feet. She followed Rude's motions closely.

The female suddenly lunged forward, twisting and swinging her right leg for Rude's head. Rude caught her leg, hooking one of his arms just inside her thigh, lifted her upward, then slammed her down onto the padded mat beneath them. Raising a gloved fist, he was caught off guard when her other leg suddenly wrapped around his neck and pushed him backward. She followed the momentum, and suddenly he was pinned to the mat, wherein she punched him once in the cheek. Quickly Rude raised his arms to guard against the next three punches, then lashed out his own right hook to catch her in the jaw and send her falling backwards. Rude was on his feet a second later.

Lysa grinned, readjusting her mouth guard, "Not bad, maybe I was wrong!"

Rude nodded, removing his sunglasses and tossing them aside, "You shouldn't underestimate your superior."

The female laughed, "Superior in rank, or superior fist fighter?"

Rude scoffed, "Both."

They were in a sectioned off area of the Tower, built specifically for training and working out for the Turks, recruits, or anyone who wished to use the facility. Behind them were a line of treadmills, each of which were occupied; to the right of these was another padded mat, where two soldiers were training in various martial arts. The rest of the space consisted of various gym equipment, with muffled shouts, grunts, and words of encouragement being shouted.

"You're not going easy on me because I'm a girl, are ya?" Lysa said, sinking into a stance.

Rude went into a similar stance, "That's how a man gets killed." Then suddenly charged.

Again the two came together, just within arms length and began to throw punches and blocks. When Rude swung left, Lysa twisted right and thrust her right fist out to be caught by the male and then thrown aside. This continued for a few seconds, before Lysa jumped back, twisted right, and brought her heel around in a roundhouse kick. Rude watched her body language carefully, predicted the attack, and ducked underneath her kick. He moved quick as lightning, and drove his shoulders into the back of her knees; she in turn landed on his back, but shifted her weight so that she again twisted about and landed on her feet, whereupon she charged him again. Rude was still the quicker however, and turned to snatch her right wrist that was aimed at his face, lifted her into the air, twisted, and again slammed her down onto the mat.

Here, she held up an open palm in surrender, using the other hand to remove her mouth-guard, and laughed, "Guess I was wrong about you being rusty, huh?"

Rude smirked, stood up, and offered a hand to the woman; she accepted it and was pulled back to her feet.

The two then turned and headed for a nearby water cooler, filling paper cups with water and downing them instantly. Lysa made a satisfied sound after, then looked up at the man, "So what happened out there anyway?"

Rude retrieved his sunglasses and placed them back over his eyes, "What?"

"You and Reno were gone for a long time," Lysa continued, taking another slug of water, "I doubt this entire time you and him and... whoever the mysterious third person is, had a pleasant stroll through the countryside! What happened?"

Rude scoffed, turned, and started for the exit, leaning down to grab a gym bag from the floor, "What does it matter?"

She was never more than half of a step behind him, "Might matter more than you think, Rude! Did you see anything about the Brotherhood? Another army, a group, scouting party? What about..."

Here, he whirled around and stood with their faces less than an inch apart, "Whatever I may or may not have seen doesn't matter. And even if it did, you're lower ranking than myself. Do I need to go on, Miss Howtzer?"

Here, she held up both of her hands, "No, of course not. I was just trying to make friendly conversation."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Tower...

Reno could only smirk, leaning against the bar and holding his drink in his hand. In the chair right next to him sat Elana, her cheeks flushed red from the alcohol.

"C'mon, chick!" The redhead laughed, "You used to work at a bar!"

"Shut up!" The blonde laughed, "I told you once before this stuff is awful!" Then slowly tilted her shotglass back and let the burning liquid pour down her throat. After, she made a face and shivered.

Reno laughed again, "Here's a fun fact for ya! The more you drink, the less you taste!" Then knocked back his own shot, making a satisfying sound after.

"Another one!" Elana said, slamming an open palm down on the bar top.

"Easy, chick," Reno said, sliding into the stool next to her, "you look like you're about to faint!"

The female turned and eyeballed him, smirking a stupid smile, "How many drinks am I behind?"

Reno glanced at the bartender and winked, "Three, at least!"

"Is'zat true?" Elana slurred, looking at the bartender.

The man nodded, wiping a glass clean with a towel, "At least; I thought I counted for."

Again she slapped a palm on the bar, "Then four more fer' me!"

The lobby in which they sat was on the main floor of the Tower, accessed once one entered through one of five entrances and then walked around a circular hallway, where the bar and a cafeteria area had been set up. Reno checked his watch, two-thirty in the morning on a Sunday. The area was mostly empty, with only a few people there at that hour; two female Turk recruits were tucked away in a corner gossiping, and three low-ranking soldiers (two male, one female) sat at the furthest end of the bar and chattering quietly over beers.

Elana threw back the first shot, "So d'ya think Tseng will ever recover?"

"Man, don't be a buzzkill," Reno muttered, taking a long sip from one mixed drink that he didn't know the name of.

"Sorry," Elana murmered, the alcohol having obviously long since begun taking effect, "It's just... so much goin' on ya know?"

"Shit," Reno scoffed, opting to take another shot of his own, "try spending weeks in the woods and _then_ comin' back to all this! Really changes your perception on things."

"What do you mean?" She asked, resting her chin on an open palm.

Reno stared hard into his cocktail, "It's like I told Rude, life can end just that quick. After Meteorfall, I figured you can't be super serious _all_ the time; ya gotta have _some_ fun!"

"But there's a time and place for that!" Elana responded, reaching for her second shot, then changing her mind and putting it back down.

Reno nodded, "Yeah, no shit! But that was then... now it's like, what's the point man?" He paused, slugging back another mouthful of alcohol, "You try and try to be happy but bad shit always happens."

Elana surprised him by laughing, "You're starting to sound like Cloud now!" And slapped him on the back of the shoulder, "And you told _me_ not to be a buzzkill!" Then just as quick changed her mind again and took her second shot.

"You're right," He laughed himself,

"'Course! I'm a female, remember?"

Now Reno's eyes glinted a bit, "Oh yeah? Prove it!"

She slapped him on the shoulder again with a laugh, cheeks flushing even redder.

Reno rubbed the contact spot, still smirking, "Ya'know, I can't believe I said that, about trying to be happy. I think I need more booze!" He then whistled loudly to the bartender, throwing a sack of gil on the bartop, "Keep 'em comin'!"

Elana giggled, leaning back in her chair, loosening her tie, removing her black overcat and then unfastening the first three buttons of her shirt, "Little warm in here, isn't it?"

"Just means you're doin' it right, chick!"

As the bartender placed still two more shots in front of each of them, Reno pulled one of hers towards his own line, "I mean, we only get one shot at this, right?"

"Huh?" She asked.

"Life! We only got one life and one chance to go around the marry-go-round, so why waste it bein' sad all the time?"

"Well, duh!" Elana replied, downing the third drink; it stuck in her mouth for a second, she hesitant to swallow. Once she did, her face puckered and she shuddered yet again.

"Might be about time to cut you off, chick!" Reno laughed, reaching for the last two drinks in front of her.

But she slapped his hand away, "Buzz off, Reno!" And just as quick yet another drink was gone.

"I had a crush on him, you know," Elana went on, her eyes hazy and swimming, "Tseng I mean."

"Yeah? How'd that all work out?" He asked, downing a drink of his own.

She sighed sadly, "How you'd expect. A'course I never told him 'cause it isn't professional. Ya'know, employees being romantically involved, you know the rules."

"So?" Reno snorted, "Romantically? Shit, doesn't mean you can't get a little... nookie on the side!"

"Now I know why I never drank with you," Elana giggled, "you're a damn pervert when you drink!"

Reno shrugged, "Take me as I am or leave me at the door, baby!"

The woman considered this through her hazed mind, then sighed again, "Maybe I should've told him; it might have helped him pull through."

"Hey," He suddenly said, voice turning serious, "Quit talkin' like he's already dead. Tseng's the toughest son of a bitch I've ever known! He once whooped me and Rude's asses; we never stood a chance!"

Elana seemed to perk at that, giggling yet again, "Really? Oh, but I bet you put up a hellacious fight!"

"Weeeeell," He grinned, "I don't mean to brag but Rude went down before I did!"

"Why do I have a hard time believing that," Elana smirked,

"Hey, last call everyone! Ten minutes til three! Last call!" The bartender suddenly yelled. Aside from the two Turks, the others quickly gathered up their things, paid their tabs, and left.

"Well, shit. So much for partying all night til the chocobos come home!" Reno huffed.

Elana reached into her pocket and slammed a rather large pile of gil on the counter, "Four more apiece of your best booze!"

Reno said nothing, only laughed again as the bartender quickly poured and placed eight shots in front of the Turks; his own face had begun to turn red.

"Right, let's do this together!" Elana said, holding up a shot glass toward's Reno's.

Reno held out his own with a smirk, "One for the money,"

 _Clink!_

"Two for the show," Elana replied,

 _Clink!_

"Three to get lucky!" Reno said.

 _Clink!_

"And here we go!" Elana finished.

 _Clink!_

"Bonus round!" Reno replied, pushing forward the last two shot glasses he had set aside earlier; he gave one to the blonde.

She accepted it, "Here's to victory!"

Reno responded, "Through the teeth and over the gums, look out stomach 'cuz here it comes!"

 _Clink!_

"Right, bar's closed you two. Gonna have to ask ya to leave." The bartender said, scooping up the money.

"Oooh, I don't feel so good," Elana complained.

"Come on, chick," Reno sighed, standing up and pulling the woman up by her arms, "I'll walk ya to your room!"

Elana could only smile, she nearly seeing double at that point, "Ah.. such a gentleman..."

They left the lobby area then, one of the woman's arms slung over his shoulder, and completely forgetting that she had left her overcoat on the bar. The bartender tried to call after them, but they never heard. A few minutes later, they stepped out of the elevator, the effects of the alcohol now in full swing. Both stumbled along, often tripping over each other but laughing with each and every missed step.

"I'm really glad you're back, Reno," Elana mumbled, "oh and Rude too of course!"

Reno could only drag her along, unable to stop his eyes from occasionally peering down her opened collared shirt, "Good to be back, chick!"

"Please... call me Elana for once," She whispered, looking up at him.

Reno met her gaze, grinned as wide as he could manage, "Whatever makes ya happy, ch... er, Elana!"

She smiled then at that, "Remember when we thought the biggest problem was Cloud and his friends?"

"What, before Meteorfall?" He chuckled, "Yeah, simpler times!"

"You know I've never had a boyfriend? Probably only went on a couple dates whenever I had free time..."

"Eh?" Reno asked, "Where'n the hell that come from?"

She giggled, "I don't know, moron! Just trying to make small talk!"

Reno's mind flushed, and found it was slowly becoming harder and harder just to put one foot in front of the other, "Shit, I don't believe that. You're not bad to look at, Elana!"

"Yeah well," She sighed, hobbling along, "guess I'm too serious for any guy to take seriously."

"Just gotta try harder, chick," He replied, "and above all be yourself! Somebody once said to me it's better to be hated for who you are than loved for who you aren't!"

She smiled at that, "You're right I guess... Reno, I'm pretty sure we passed my room."

They both stopped in the hallway then, which was completely empty and quiet. Once they realized they had indeed gone too far, they both burst into laughter, turned the opposite direction, and began to walk. A few occupants of the other rooms briefly stuck their heads into the hall to see what the noise was, and on discovery of it, only shook their heads or rolled their eyes, and retreated back to their rooms. Finally, they reached Elana's room, she shrugging off of Reno and leaning her back into the door.

"Well, guess I'll see ya tomorrow!" He said, and turned to walk away.

Her hand suddenly shot out and grabbed his wrist, "Reno wait... I don't want to be alone tonight."

"Huh?" He turned and looked at her.

"There's a war going on," She replied, "Tseng was attacked, Junon was nearly destroyed... who know's what could happen tomorrow? The next day?"

"What are you talking..."

Her other hand shot up to grip his shirt collar, ripping his face forward, their lips crashing against one another's. For a few seconds they became lost in that moment, before she finally pulled away and stared up at him.

"Any of us, or all of us could die tomorrow," She whispered, eyes gleaming with lust, "and I don't want to die with any regrets," As she said this, the hand gripping his shirt tugged him closer still, until she was tightly pinned between him and the door.

"So..." She said huskily, "...what do ya say, Reno?"

It only took a moment for him to decide, with his mouth again finding hers, the alcohol fueling his actions and thoughts, "Let's do it, chick."

"Call me Elana," She replied with a throaty gasp.

One of her hands then reached behind her to fumble for the doorknob as they kissed once again, finally turning the thing and the door falling open. They stepped in quickly, eyes locked, and already beginning to peel off articles of clothing. In one swift motion, Reno both flicked off the lights, and booted the dorm room door shut with his boot.

* * *

 **~ ` ` ` [VII] ` ` ` ~**

* * *

 _~ ` ` ` [S.S Garland] ` ` ` ~_

* * *

Tara stepped out onto the main deck of the _Garland_ , shielding her eyes as the sun temporarily blinded her. She stood there a moment, sucking in a deep breath, then exhaling loudly; for some reason the salty sea air always lifted her spirits. She turned left, nodding to a passing sailor as he passed, and continued on. It had been a few days since her attack far below decks, and despite her spirits being lifted by the sea, it still unnerved her. Ever since then, she had rarely ventured outside of her own cabin during the voyage, and when she did, she was almost certain that Vincent was always nearby; a silent guardian. She hadn't known for sure, and at least hoped that the feeling of her always being watched was from the stoic gunman, and not another potential Brotherhood crony. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't truly seen nor spoken to Vincent since that day, only catching glimpses of him as he wandered about the ship.

At least here on the main deck she felt mostly safe, in broad daylight and surrounded by more than three sets of eyes.

"We're soon to drop anchor," A voice spoke as she rounded a corner.

She jumped slightly, even started to reach for her pistol, until she saw the speaker, "How do you know?"

Vincent huffed, pointing to the front of the ship, "See for yourself."

Tara moved to the front prow, staring far into the horizon and sure enough, there was a distant black smudge. Surrounding the land mass were a line of tiny silver specks, which were no doubt more WRO war ships, as evidenced by a distant ship's horn coming from that direction.

Vincent moved to stand beside her, "Costa del Sol," he answered her questioning look.

She nodded, expecting as much, "What are we going to do once we land?"

"Ask questions," He replied simply.

"What did the captain have to say when you told him about the stowaways?"

Vincent harrumphed, "Isn't it obvious? Have you not noticed the increased security?"

She paused, "Of course, but... _what did he say?_ "

"What you'd expect. Suffice to say he did not believe me, until I showed him the corpses."

"Reeve and the others?"

"I do not answer directly to Reeve; our part in that tact is finished."

"Mr. Valentine," A third voice called out, before Tara could go on. Both of them turned to the newcomer.

He was a tall stout man in his early fifties, slightly taller than Vincent; he wore the typical attire of a high ranking WRO Navy member, with various pins adorned on his chest and a dark blue and black military cover on his head. He extended a hand to Tara and introduced himself, "Rear Admiral Alexander Price, captain of the _Garland_."

"A pleasure, sir," Then saluted, "Sergeant Tara Norfolk, sir."

The admiral nodded, then looked to Vincent, "We should make landfall in a half hour; what will you do then?"

Vincent nodded in turn, "A task that needs completing; we have far to go and little time to get there."

"I see," Price pondered, "well you've helped more than I expected, what with finding the terrorists on board and all. Who'd have thought!" He then looked to Tara, "I understand you were the intended victim; I am truly sorry, young lady."

Tara shook her head and avoided the senior officer's gaze, "It's okay, sir. No one could have known. I'm just glad Vincent was there."

Price nodded again, "Indeed. Mr. Valentine, as I said, you helped a lot. Any way I could return the favor? Offer you a ride, or an airship perhaps to speed up your journey?"

"No," Vincent replied quickly, "Reeve and I've already had this talk; he needs every ship, every captain that can be spared."

"Yes, President Tuesti and I had words on that matter, suffice to say they weren't all nice words," The admiral sighed, "Wutai, is it? I'm sure one single ship won't matter."

Tara perked up then, thinking that maybe they wouldn't have to walk all the way to Wutai after all.

But Vincent did not budge, "There are things, places along the way that require looking into. And with the Brotherhood sneaking onto ships, who's to say how far west they've spread, so quickly?"

Tara inwardly groaned, but did not give any sign she had done so.

"I suppose I see your point," Price replied, "but all the same, here." Then fished a slip of paper out of his pocket, "You'll find two names there; one is my younger brother, Warrant Officer Neil Price. He can get you a map, supplies, anything you might need; he's expecting you. He oversees the dock operations so he should be easy to find."

"And the other?" Tara asked.

"My youngest brother, Mark, also a warrant officer," Price went on, "if you happen to be traveling due north of Costa del Sol, you'll find one of our outposts that he oversees. Before enlisting he was a bit of a trouble maker; he can do some tricky things with computers. He might have some information and if needed, can resupply you. He also has been informed and his men are on the lookout for you."

"Thank you, Admiral Price," Tara said with a warm smile, "you and your brothers might be the difference between life and death for us."

The elder man offered a smile of his own, "Just doing my civic duty, ma'am. Good luck to the both of ya, and be safe out there." After he shook both of their hands one final time, saluting after, the man turned and left.

Vincent strolled past the woman a moment later, "Be sure that you're here before we dock."

Tara said nothing, instead watching the man walk away until he too was gone, leaving her standing alone. She glanced back to the landmass before them, feeling goosebumps prickle up her arms; one stage of the journey was over, and another was about to begin. Nodding to herself, she too quickly left the main deck, hurrying down to her cabin and preparing her things to leave.

* * *

 **~ ` ` ` [VII] ` ` ` ~**

* * *

 _~ ` ` ` [Edge City; WRO Tower] ` ` ` ~_

* * *

 _Clang!_

Cloud stood up from his cot when he heard the familiar sound of a door down the hallway being slammed shut; across the hall, Barret likewise appeared at his own door.

"What's goin' on?" He asked across the hall.

"Guess we're about to find out," Cloud called back.

Right then, a helmeted soldier stepped into their sight, the vigils and patches on his sleeves identifying him as a high ranking officer; he was flanked by two marines.

"Good news, fellas," The officer said, "The president sent word down; you two are free to go."

"Hot damn, about time!" Barret hooted.

The marines each stepped in front of their holding cells, the jingling of keys right then being a pleasant sound to the blonde right then. Keys were inserted, locks slid back with loud _clanks_ , and then the cell doors were slowly pulled open. Slowly, Cloud and Barret stepped into the hallway, and eyeballed each other; both the officer and the two marines watched them carefully.

"Now, there isn't gonna be any more problems... are there, gentlemen?" The officer asked at length, right hand slowly moving to his stun gun on his belt.

Cloud and Barret continued to stare at each other, neutral faced, and didn't say a word at first. Just when the situation looked to escalate, Barret suddenly burst into laughter, shoving one marine aside and embracing the blonde warrior. Cloud in response, smirked and returned the brief embrace.

"My bad, Spikey! I'll keep a lid on it from now on!"

"You're just saying that because I put ya through a table," Cloud said with humor.

"Pah, whatever foo'! Next time we're gonna see if chocobos can really fly!"

"You know some of them can, right?"

"Shaddup!"

"Right then," The officer said, clearing his throat, "these two will see you to the main floor. And see that there aren't any more... mishaps. I overheard Reeve himself say he might just throw you both into black cells next time."

"What'n the hell's a black cell anyway?" Barret asked.

"You don't wanna know," One of the marines answered, "let's just say they're reserved for only the most vile of vile."

"Good day, gentleman," The officer said, then strolled away to exit through a door at one end of the hallway.

"This way, Mr. Strife, Mr. Wallace," One of the marines said, gesturing in the opposite direction.

"Man, quit callin' me _mister_ already! I ain't no business man!" Barret chuckled.

After their possessions were returned to them, confiscated prior to their imprisonment, the two of them were then escorted out of the isolation unit, up two flights of stairs, and finally up two more floors via elevator. The doors parted, and Cloud and Barret stepped out into the main lobby. Once they were in the clear, the two marines merely nodded, pressed a button inside the elevator, and were gone again. The lobby was surprisingly busy for the time of day, with people walking this way and that; mostly higher ranking soldiers and dignitaries from other regions of the continent.

"Looks like some serious shit is about to go down!" Barret commented, as the two stepped further onto the main floor.

"Looks like," Cloud agreed, then turned to face the other man, "now what?"

Barret thought a moment, "Think I'll step outside and get some air! Bein' locked in a box for that long damn near drove me insane! Gonna give Reeve's friend a call too; gotta check on Marlene and lil' killer!"

Cloud nodded, "Make sure to tell them everyone said hi, and... they still don't know about Yuffie, do they?"

"Course not!" Barret said quickly, "Leastways not if I have anythin' to do with it! I'll catch up with ya later, Spikey!"

"Later, then." Cloud finished, and walked the opposite direction from Barret, whom had already fished his cellphone from his pocket.

The blonde stood there then, dead center of the main floor, the large symbol of the WRO painted upon the marble floor. People passed him by every second, most not giving him more than a second look, while the rest never even seemed to notice him to begin with. Looking straight up, the ceiling stretched on and on, this section of the building being a cylinder shape with walkways often crisscrossing over one another; and always people were on the move. Not entirely thinking, the blonde turned to a nearby staircase and walked towards it, making a slow ascent. When his cellphone went off, a quick check revealed it to be Cid's number; Cloud decided he wasn't in a talkative mood, and silenced his phone. However, mid-way up the stairs he paused, remembering something, and reached into his vest to pull out the thin piece of rolled up paper Tifa had given him while he was still locked away. He slowly unrolled it, which had written upon it the exact floor, room number, and section of the Tower where she promised she would be. He heaved a sigh then, knowing full well that he had to keep his promise, a promise to tell her the truth.

He still remembered writing that note, buying that rose that fateful morning before the Brotherhood attacked Junon, with every intentions of sitting her down and talking to her. In a way he had almost been grateful for all of the sudden distractions, because he simply had no idea how he could put it into words. The nightmares, Sephiroth, Aerith's warnings, any of it. She would probably laugh at him, shut him out, even shun him. His phone went off again, Cid's number, and again silenced it. Despite not wanting to talk to the man, or anyone for that matter, he knew that it was time to force himself into a talkative mood. He pressed the button of the elevator in front of him, stepping into an already crowded car and pressing the appropriate floor number. Once the floor was reached and the elevator dinged, Cloud stepped out, studied the nearby room numbers, then turned right and started down the hallway.

At the halfway point the hallway turned into a four-way fork, and Cloud again looked to the numbers on the doors for direction, this time turning left. Barely twenty steps later, the left side of the hall opened up into a small sort of break room, with vending machines and two tables with three chairs apiece within. Side-glancing into this room, Cloud inwardly groaned at who he saw.

"Hey, spike-trap! You still ain't learned how to answer a damn phone!"

Cloud put one foot inside the room, "Sorry Cid. Some habits are hard to kick."

Cid laughed at that, thumping a lit cigarette out the open window, "Heard that! Also heard you an' Barret got set loose not long ago!"

"Word really does spread fast in here," Cloud sighed, "how'd you know?"

Cid stood up then, slugging back what remained of his coffee from a paper cup, "Was chatting up one of the guards, says it was time to let you two loose! Got a minute, spike-trap?"

Cloud shook his head, "I was just on my way to see Tifa, and..."

"Ah, she can wait just a minute!" Cid said, quickly stepping closer and pulling Cloud into a nearby chair, "She already knows you're out, but I told her I might get to ya first!"

Cloud was not at all impressed, nor pleased at being forced into a chair, but quickly decided it was better to not create another scene so soon after being released from jail. "What is it, Cid?"

Cid refilled his coffee cup, then slid into a chair across from the other male, "I've been hearin' rumors, Cloud," His voice was serious now, "from people who escort people who talk to people who escort Reeve and the other execs around!"

"That's a thick grapevine," Cloud scoffed, "A story can change when it comes down from a place that high,"

"Yeah but," Cid held up a hand, "its some serious shit! Wouldn't doubt it one bit; even went snooping around and talkin' to every person I could get to who started the rumors."

"And the rumors are?" Cloud asked impatiently, tempted to simply get up and flee.

"That Reeve and Rufus are puttin' together a top secret mission against Junction Town."

Cloud quickly began to lose what little patience he had, "Hardly a rumor, Cid, more like common sense. We already knew this was going to happen eventually."

"But!" Cid interrupted, "The story goes that it's gonna be a different sort of tactic! Involvin' you, me, the others, and even the WRO army itself!"

Cloud was suspicious now, and leaned closer, "Full scale attack on the Junction? What's Reeve thinking? The Brotherhood will probably kill Yuffie if that happens."

Cid shrugged, "Beats me, spike-trap! Can't get in touch with Reeve and any Turks I corner won't say a damn word!"

"Why are you telling me this?"

Cid shrugged again, "Better you hear it from me than a soldier or desk clerk an' go startin' more shit like you and Barret!"

Cloud stood up then, deciding to ponder on this new information later, "Thanks, Cid. And don't worry, I don't plan on going back into a jail cell again anytime soon. At least, not one of our own."

The pilot gestured with his hand in a small salute, "Right well, go handle your domestic life, spike-trap! You know how to reach me!"

Cloud left the break room a second later, turning left and continuing down the hall.

After that, it didn't take long before he reached the room Tifa had written on the slip of paper, and he double checked a final time to make sure he was in the right place. He stood there for a few minutes, gathering his courage, even laughed under his breath at himself. He had seen things, done things, fought monsters and beings that most people would turn and flee from, yet he could not muster the courage to confront his childhood friend and lover. Love, perhaps, was the scariest thing in the world, Cloud decided, simply because it was such a fragile thing and the tiniest thing could shatter it forever. He took a final deep breath of air, then raised a gloved hand and _knock knock knock_ 'd on the door.

"It's unlocked," He heard her call from within, he turning the knob and pushing the door open.

And there she sat upon a bed large enough for two, having discarded her black vest and instead donned a white tanktop and black bottoms. Her legs were crossed upon the bed, the nearby open window letting in a modest breeze that blew her hair backwards over her shoulders and the sunshine seeming to light up her features. When she realized who it was, she stood up quickly, bare feet pattering upon the wood floor and locking him in a tight embrace and a long kiss. For just that moment they were lost in each other, forgetting all of the bad things in the world and just happy to finally have each other again at last.

"I did miss this, you know," She whispered when they finally pulled away.

"Me too," He said back with a small smile.

They remained in that posture, her fingers slowly brushing again and again down his cheek, and his own running through her hair. Finally, she pulled away, but took him by the hand and led him to the bed, where they sat next to each other. "What did Cid want?" She asked a second later.

"To gossip," Cloud said truthfully, "he's been hanging around the soldiers too long. Word on the grapevine is that Reeve and Rufus are finally making plans to march against Junction Town."

Tifa nodded, "I might have heard similar things, but... that was already going to happen, right?"

"That's exactly what I told him."

"Did he say anything else?"

Cloud shook his head, "Not really. Just that it might involve all of us, you, me, Cid, Barret, the army itself."

"What..." She started, but he cut her off.

"I really don't know, Tifa. All we can do for now is wait for Reeve to call us. Right now... we have something else to talk about."

She managed a very small smile, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, "I was hoping you'd say that."

With a sigh he suddenly stood up, walking two steps away to pull a chair back, which he slumped into afterward, "Where do I even start?"

He suddenly moving away startled her, but her facial features showed no sign, "Where all stories start, Cloud, the beginning." She paused, thought a moment, and then said, "You kept mentioning your dreams."

He nodded, "Right, the dreams," He scooted the chair in which he sat closer to the bed, then leaned forward onto his knees, "Do you remember all those months ago, I had called you to tell you I was going to the slum church?"

Tifa nodded.

"And when I came back, I had Barret with me?"

She nodded again.

"That day..." Cloud started, the memories rushing back to him as though it were the day before, "I was sitting on Fenrir, but... I don't know if you could call it a dream, or even a vision, but..."

"You saw _her_ again, didn'tyou?" Tifa offered.

Cloud didn't move, nor blink, "Yeah... I was in a field of flowers, and she was off in the distance. I only went to the church because I thought maybe she was trying to reach through, to tell me something?"

Tifa raised an eyebrow, "Why would Aerith..."

Cloud held up a hand, "Just hear me out, Tifa; it turns out my assumption was right."

Tifa leaned back and did not say another word.

Cloud went on, "A while after that, I was asleep, and she came to me again, but it was like she was right there, in our room. She told me, 'everything is about to change, Cloud,' and at the time I didn't believe her. But she was right, because that was around the time the Brotherhood seized Fort Condor."

"Do you think that's what she was really referring to?" Tifa asked.

He shook his head, "I don't know, but it makes sense." He glanced down at his open palms.

"Have you seen her again since then?"

"The last time... was when we got back from Junon, inside the bar. I was upstairs, and she appeared in the doorway."

Now Tifa looked somewhat worried, "You weren't asleep? She was physically there?"

Cloud thought a moment, "Not really _physically_ there, but... she was there. She told me again that things were about to change... again."

"What does that mean?" Tifa asked.

"Who knows, but so far she hasn't really been wrong. And there's something else she said... that the enemies aren't just on the outside, but inside as well."

"Which means there might be a traitor among us," Tifa said at length.

Cloud nodded again, "Exactly. But with so many people running around, it could be anybody."

"Or nobody," Tifa replied, "well, it sounds like Aerith knows exactly what's going on, but... how, I guess we'll never know. And you said it only started when you were sleeping? Now she's somehow manifesting herself in the real world... there has to be a good reason."

Now Cloud scooted his chair back a step, feeling a familiar darkness tugging at his mind, "And there's something else, Tifa... the dreams... it's not just Aerith."

She surprised him then, when she said, "It's Sephiroth, isn't it?"

A look of dread shot across his face, "How did you-..."

"My turn for 'remember when.' Outside the bar, when I tried to confront you about it, you had said 'it's him, it's him.' And you made a sound," Here, she made a _ssss_ sound, to emphasize the letter, "And not only that, you looked afraid while trying to spit it out. So, I put two and two together."

Cloud had wanted to ask, 'so he isn't invading your thoughts either?' but thought better of it.

" _Hmph, don't flatter yourself, Cloud. Had I wanted to possess the wench, I could have done so long before now."_

Cloud pressed a fist against the side of his head, pushing the presence away. "Every single time I've slept... _he_ was there too. And over time, the dreams have gotten worse."

She leaned closer still, "Go on."

As much as he hated to acknowledge it, he sifted through his memories, "At first it was just typical nightmare stuff, fighting and taunting... didn't think much of it at first. But then..." Here, Cloud lifted up his vest, to show her the thin scar that stretched across his midsection; a trophy of the very first dream where his nemasis was able to harm him in the dream world, and it carry through to reality.

Tifa stifled a gasp.

"And that too has gotten worse and worse... whatever he does to me now in my sleep... the wound appears," Cloud said with a shudder. He then completely removed his vest, stood up, and turned around to show a circular scar on his chest, a matching one on his back as though a sword had been pressed through him. On each of his arms was the faint outline of what remained of two bruises, shaped like hand and fingerprints.

"Cloud, I... I don't even know what to say," Tifa responded, and soon found that she was shaking slightly.

Cloud put his vest back on, "If you don't believe me, I understand."

"No, it's just... how? Why? Do you think maybe Aerith is trying to fight him?"

He sat back down, his face now saddened, "That or she is under his control... the last two times I saw her, Sephiroth came and... banished? Killed? Sent her away? And always saying things like 'she is under my control' and 'she cannot save you anymore.'"

" _Always wringing your hands and playing the pity card, Cloud."_ Sephiroth's voice chuckled inside Cloud's head.

"Shut up!" Cloud suddenly yelled, pounding the side of his head again.

Tifa startled, reaching out to take Cloud's balled fist, "Stop that, Cloud!"

He drew away from her suddenly, kicking over the chair in the process, "I hear him all the time, Tifa! It's like the more time goes by, the worse and worse it gets! I saw him at Junon, he banished Aerith when we got back to the bar. The last nightmare I had before we came here was the most brutal and macabre one ever!"

She bit her lip, allowing him to rant and rave, before she too shot to her feet, "And what are you going to do about it, Cloud? Hm? Run away again, hide like a scared child?"

" _Of course he is."_

Cloud held his ground, ignoring the voice, "What _am_ I supposed to do, Tifa?"

"Not run away!" She snapped at him, "Haven't you learned your lesson yet? That never helps anything, only makes it worse!"

He turned away from her, stepping over to stand by the open window, and said nothing.

She stood up behind him, an arm's length away, "Running has never solved problems, Cloud. Not for you, for me, for anyone. And even if it did, Sephiroth is in your head, right? Do you think even if you ran to the end of the world, you'd be free of it?"

He did not look at her, only continued to stare out the window, "It sounds like it would be a start," He muttered, and she barely heard him.

But she heard well enough, taking a step and yanking him around to face her, her eyes stern and drilling, "Now, you listen to me, Cloud Strife," and pointed a finger directly at him, "you can't run anymore, not now. It's too late for that."

He stared at her, face softening, and remained silent.

She went on, "You might be sick of hearing this, just like I'm sick of saying it, but we've all been through too much after all this time. You and me... and this war that just happened over night? All of the battles and the hardships... there were several times I thought I was going to lose you. But you can't leave now, you can't leave us." Here, she started to place a palm upon her stomach, realized what she was doing, and stopped herself. She wondered if she should share her suspicions... that maybe that would keep him around for the most part. Instead, she opted not to, and instead watched him carefully, waiting to see what he would do.

Cloud turned his head, averting his eyes elsewhere as he spoke, "I had never planned to leave you or any of the others... not really. But what else am I supposed to do?"

Here, Tifa reached up to touch his face, slowly and gently pushing his gaze back to her own, "We'll figure it out, Cloud. We always do, don't we?"

"I don't think this is something anyone else can figure out, Tifa. This... this is unlike anything we've ever had to face before."

"You're wrong," She replied at once, "it's exactly the same in context. There's no problem that can't be solved."

He continued to stare into those ruby colored eyes, his face remaining neutral, "But how can you be so sure, Tifa?"

She offered him a smile, "You really have to ask me that, as long as you've known me?"

Now he felt his own smile slowly form, "You're right, I guess. At least... I hope you are."

* * *

 **~ ` ` ` [VII] ` ` ` ~**

* * *

 _~ ` ` ` [ Cosmo Canyon ] ` ` ` ~_

* * *

Cait's body bobbed up and down as the soldier marched down the dust-filled path, the toy having situated itself upon his shoulder. Ten fellow WRO marines flanked around them, as well as fifteen of Red's own elite warriors, they having more knowledge of the surrounding area and thus made up of the outline of the patrol.

It had been several days since their first arrival at the Canyon, Cait having decided that the WRO force alongside himself, should remain in the area. Cait had went back to Red the day after their arrival, again trying to convince the chieftain to listen to reason. And yet again Red would not be swayed, nor would he budge from his logic and reasoning to protect his own people above everything else. Once a few of the WRO soldiers caught wind of this, rumors and speculation began to stir, some citing that the chieftain was selfish, arrogant, some even going so far as to cite Red as narcissistic. There was little Cait could do about containing these rumors, and yet despite them there had been no problems between the military personnel and the natives. Their stay had actually been pleasant, with abundant food and shelter, and gradually the natives of the Canyon began to become at ease, even open up to some of the soldiers, the former realizing that these strangers were not cut from the same cloth as the last group who had mercilessly slaughtered.

Even still, the toy agent knew that the powers-at-be had to be informed of Cosmo Canyon's stance on the war at hand, such as why the small troop were marching towards the outskirts of the Canyon. Cait had learned quickly that holding any form of stable communications, via any form of technology, was impossible in this desolate land, and so he requested a sort of scouting party to venture forth until a stable connection could be reached.

"Do you think we wasted our time coming here, sir?" The soldier commented.

Cait continued to study the device in it's hands, shaking it's head, "Hard to say, lad, though I'd like ta' think not!"

A female soldier nearby added, "And what about the soldiers we lost, sir? Do you think it right that we buried them _here_ of all places?"

For the first time since it could recall, Cait became angry, "An' what would ya 'ave me do, lass? Allow tha' bodies ta' rot in this heat until a helicopter evac could be secured?"

"N-No sir..." The female soldier hesitated, "My own opinion is that our dead should be buried where they truly belong!"

Cait's ears twitched several times in annoyance, "Like it or not, we're all fightin' for the same thing. Their dog tags were removed, an' their names logged. Tha' soldiers who fought and died for a peaceful future will receive a burial of sorts back in Edge! Their spirits will find peace, regardless o' where they be buried."

And that ended that particular argument.

The troop continued to march for another twenty minutes, when the device in Cait's hands began to rapidly beep and vibrate, the signal (faint though it was) showing the device now fully functional.

"Oi! Hold it here!" Cait suddenly screeched, then pressed several buttons and turned a knob on the device.

Many agonizing seconds passed as the contraption attempted to establish a connection to the intended recipient, the majority of those present thinking it was another waste of time. Cait even went so far as to stand upon the shoulder of the man he was sitting on, and hopped over to the opposite shoulder. It's tiny hands held the machine into the air, twisted this way, angled it around that way, even held it upside down, upwards, downwards, and sideways; always the machine beeped and booped, trying to secure the call.

Finally, the beeping abruptly stopped, followed by a loud _click_ and a final _boop_ , and Reeve's face appeared on the small screen, "Cait? Where have you been?"

The toy flopped down, "Apologies, boss-man! Hard ta' get a signal within tha' Canyon!"

"I can barely see you," Reeve responded, "where are you?"

"Not far from tha' Canyon, sir! Had ta' come oot this far ta' contact ye'!"

It heard Reeve sigh, "Not surprising. What's the update, then?"

Cait shook it's head, "'Fraid Chief Nanaki is unwillin' ta' help right away. He reports that 'is own lands are under attack as well!"

"What?"

Cait went on, "He's captured a Brotherhood scout, sir! An' that 'is own villages are bein' raided an' destroyed!"

"And so he has to protect his own grounds, right?" Reeve replied.

"Aye, sir!"

Another sigh, "Damn it, so now the Brotherhood are in other parts of the world? Just what we need."

"What shall we do, boss?"

There was a pause, as Reeve considered this situation and that, "I might can charter another small group to Cosmo Canyon. If the rebels have really extended their hand that far west, then we have to fight on both fronts. Nanaki and his warriors cannot fight them alone."

At that, those of Red's warriors who overheard that shifted angrily, even grunted in annoyance.

Cait ignored them, "But what aboot the mainland, sir?"

"Reinforcements from the Northern Glacier should be arriving any day now. And that besides, Rufus and the Turks are attempting to gather as many new recruits as possible."

"Aye, good thinkin'! How goes it over there?"

Reeve paused, quickly opting not to reveal to the agent on Tseng's condition, "Well enough, given the circumstances." Then his image began to crackle and pop, slowly fading from the screen.

"About ta' lose ye' again boss! What should we do?"

"Just stay put, help in whatever way you all can." Reeve responded quickly, "Let Nanaki know the WRO will help however we can, and to be on the lookout for a helicopter!" Then the device beeped and shut itself down completely, the signal lost.

The next hour was spent trekking back to the Canyon, many of the soldier's hearts heavy at having to spend yet more time in this foreign land. Upon arrival back at the main camp, Cait had excused itself from the main group and had attempted to enter the main fortress, only to be stopped by four heavily armed tribesmen.

"The chieftain is in a private meeting, and has forbade anyone to enter," One guard had said.

"Chief Nanaki sent word however," Another quickly put in, "that he wishes to speak with you, Lord Cait, once the meeting is complete."

Unable to argue, Cait returned to the rest of his party, many of whom had since gathered around a large bonfire in the village. The sun had begun to sink in the sky, the final rays lighting up the sky in colors of red and orange, which only seemed to make the deep red color of the landscape burn fiercely, more brightly. As it walked, it caught bits and pieces of conversation from the WRO soldiers.

"No thanks, I don't like the taste!" One female soldier declined a large silver flask from a fellow soldier.

"You don't drink it for the taste, really!" The male counterpart laughed, taking a long swig from the flask.

"Can't believe we're having to stay here even longer!" Yet another soldier complained, "We should at least go back to Edge to help protect our homes!"

"Glories of military life, you don't get to pick and choose where you go!"

"Just think of this as a mini vacation, guys! At least we're not getting shot at!"

"Yeah, not yet. You ask me I'd rather deal with rebels than them fuckin' manticores and skeletons!"

Cait shook it's head, not bothering to throw in a comment of it's own. It did, however, worry what all of this would do for morale; already it could see the telltale signs of a quickly fading will to fight. Could this be one of many of the Brotherhood's strategies in their recruitment gathering?

"Lord Cait!"

"Oi?"

A burly, bronze-skinned warrior stepped into the agent's path, banging a heavy shield on a bronze shield with a _clang!_ "Chief Nanaki has sent for you; he awaits you and urges you come quickly!"

"I'll be right there, lad! My thanks!" Then continued upon it's way, this time changing direction and walking from the way he had come.

"Commander Sith,"

"Yes, lad? Make it quick, aye?"

"What exactly is it we're supposed to do?"

The toy body shrugged it's shoulders, "Ya heard President Tuesti, lad. We 'ave ta' help however we can!"

"But what does that mean _exactly_ , sir?"

Again Cait shrugged, "Only time will tell! Now I 'ave ta' speak with tha' cheiftain. Jus' hold down tha' fort here, aye?"

"Yes, sir."

Cait entered into the main 'throne' room of the main fortress, to find Red sitting on his hind legs upon the small throne. The chieftain nodded in acknowledgment, then beckoned the toy closer. Here, Cait discovered a strange sort of device just to the left of the throne. It had a cone shape, with a medium sized bowl around the top of the 'stem', and it was made entirely of stone. Cait wondered, had this thing been there the entire time and had not noticed? Nevertheless, it stepped closer to the throne.

"Welcome back, Cait. I trust you were able to communicate with Reeve?" Red asked as the other drew closer.

"Aye, lad!"

"And what news?"

"Reeve claimed that all is well! An' that he's sending more troops out this way!"

"But why would..." Red had started to speak.

"If'n tha' Brotherhood have reached so far west than we 'ave to fight 'em everywhere we can!" Cait said, forcing some joy into it's voice. "We're ta' help however we can!"

Red did not speak at first, glancing down at his paws, and thinking. Finally, he looked back up and nodded, even seemed to smile just slightly, "Of that I am relieved. However, I can't help but feel that this is another form of bribery."

"A'course not, lad!" Cait replied quickly, "Seein' as we're already here, Reeve means to secure a WRO foothold here as well!"

Red nodded again, "Very well. Come closer, there is something I wish you to see." And nodded towards the stone bowl nearby.

As Cait stepped closer to the thing, a third figure suddenly appeared in the corner of the room, stepping from the shadows. He was an elderly short man, his bronze skin filled with many frown lines and wrinkles; his hair was past his shoulders, and old age had turned it milk white. His robes were stitched of multiple colors, adorned in various colored beads and feathers, and he walked with a wooden cane, though several tribal lines and runes were carved down it's entire length.

"Cait," Red spoke, "This is Qal'Dorei, my personal adviser and head shaman."

The shaman nodded in acknowledgment, and spoke in a raspy, slow voice, "This one is honored."

Cait bowed in respect of the ancient shaman, "A pleasure, sir!"

"Qal," Red now turned to the shaman, "I would have you show Cait would you showed me."

"Step closer, young master," Qal whispered, removing a small leather vial from his robes and standing over the stone bowl.

Quickly, Cait pushed a chair towards the bowl, and hopped into it. Here it discovered the bowl was filled with water, but it had a glassy surface, nearly seeming more akin to a mirror.

"Oi, lad, what am I aboot to see?"

The old shaman rasped again, "What was... what is... and what will be. Even the wisest cannot know, for the scrying mirror shows many, many things." Then turned the leather vial over and poured three small drops of some silver liquid into the bowl. Cait leaned closer, as the small pool began to ripple, and was even surprised when a gray smoke began to gather beneath the surface of the water. Here, the old shaman swirled a gnarly digit once, twice, three times around the entire outer length of the pool, softly chanting in his native tongue. A few more seconds of silence passed, and slowly the image on the pool changed, the gray smoke dissipating.

The image before Cait was a peaceful green pasture, with azure blue skies and wild flowers growing every which way. Butterflies and birds bobbed in and out of the view, and Cait swore it heard the faint chirping of birds. Nearby, a flock of chocobos pecked at the ground, _wark_ 'ing contentedly.

"What was..." The shaman rasped. Then the image changed again, the gray smoke returning but just as quickly seeming to be blown away to reveal a very different picture.

It was a battle, between the WRO and the Brotherhood. Both sides exchanged rapid gunfire, the occasional explosion of a grenade startling the toy agent. Military vehicles zoomed in and out of view as well, and the battle waged on for several seconds before the smoke returned.

"What is..." Again the shaman whispered, and then the smoke faded yet again, and Cait gasped.

The entire landscape was dead, it looking like the entirety of it was coated in ash. Cities were ablaze, with black-hooded soldiers rushing about and killing anyone with no mercy. Giant iron works belched thick black smoke and oozing, white hot lava. Women and children were shackled and carried screaming out of sight, and those that resisted were either shot or their throats opened with razor knives. The entire time in the background, a large black flag bearing the Brotherhood's sigil flapped in an unknown breeze, JENOVA's eyes alight in bloodthirsty glee. A female voice laughed.

"Bloody hell..." Cait gasped.

Qal spoke, as the pool ripped again and then was nothing than a bowl of water, "Such is what the world will become, if you and your allies should fail."

"But how do we know fer' sure?" Cait asked, now clearly afraid.

But the elder shook his head, "The ancient magics do not lie, young master. All that we can do is trust in our own strengths."

Now Red spoke as the shaman shambled slowly away, "Even if I did not believe in the magic of our people, I have seen the barbirism of the foe we face. Thus, I do not doubt that these... Brotherhood rebels will destroy this planet. You mentioned Reeve to be sending reinforcements? How many?"

Cait shook it's head, "I'm not sure, lad. Though I would not be expectin' an army!"

"No... of course not. All the same, it appears we're stuck together now." Red said this with another smile.

Cait forced a smile of it's own, still very much rattled from the scrying mirror, "Aye, lad, appears to be!"

Just then, the wooden door at the back of the room was violently thrown open, both a WRO marine as well one of Red's own warriors rushing in. Red was standing on all fours a moment later.

"What has happened?" The chieftain demanded.

"Sir," The marine started, "towards the southeast, an army!"

"Beasts and men!" The warrior quickly added.

"Tha' Brotherhood?" Cait wondered.

"It maters not," Red said quickly, "Rouse the warriors, if it is a fight they want, it is a fight they shall receive!"

* * *

 **~ ` ` ` [VII] ` ` ` ~**

* * *

 _~ ` ` ` [Somewhere south of Kalm] ` ` ` ~_

* * *

The village looked as though someone had kicked over an ant bed.

People rushed this way and that, in and out of houses and stores, gathering supplies and making final preparations for their departure. An envoy arrived the day before, claiming to be a messenger of Reeve Tuesti himself, and promising an armed convoy to safely evacuate the village. Some days after the failed siege of Junon, it seemed that a smaller Brotherhood force broke off from the main army, and had surrounded the small and very much remote village. Those who had attempted to flee never returned, and the rest of the villagers could image well enough those poor souls' fates. But finally, it was assumed that a messenger had slipped past the rebel ranks, with the arrival of the WRO emissary.

And yet there were still doubts and nagging questions that stained the minds of many more than one of the townspeople. Why would the Brotherhood target their small town to begin with? How is it that the enemy could even make it this deep into the WRO territory? And more importantly, why had their military, the WRO, not done something about this sooner? And, why had their town not been approached when this whole mess began in the first place? Still others counter-argued that since their tiny village of less than two-hundred people was so far off the beaten path, it would be easy to overlook. Considering the WRO had more pressing maters, such as a war to fight and major cities and outposts to evacuate, their own tiny town would hardly be a forethought.

Hours passed, with the sun slowly going down and much of the village population now simple standing around eagerly and anxiously, ready to be safe. They did not have to wait much longer, as a small line of trucks crested the ridge, and started towards them. Here, many of them began to cheer, mothers whispering encouraging words to their children while at the same time cheering themselves. After a few minutes longer, the first two trucks of the convoy entered the 'gates' of the village, one turning to it's left, and the other to the right; upon the backs of each were a mounted gun, and a soldier behind it. From the rear, still more trucks entered into the village, again sporting mounted guns and soldiers. Each soldier wore the standard white and gray and red uniforms of a WRO soldier. Towards the northern side, a tractor-trailer was slowly backing up to a loading ramp, which would serve to transport the refugees.

One of the WRO soldiers stepped forward, and produced a megaphone, "Citizens of Carth, I'm Staff Sergeant Kyle Reese, Seventy-Fifth Air Brigade. If you'll please direct yourselves quickly but quietly towards the northern ramp, we'll get you all out of here safely."

That was all the villagers needed to hear, as they turned and started for the ramp; from the front of the semi, two more WRO soldiers stepped around and began to unlock and unhitch the back of the trailer container.

Some of the villagers noticed odd things, such as a score more of army vehicles angled around the outskirts of the town, in a sort of **C** shape. Others thought nothing of this, and were elated with the extra security detail, knowing they would reach their destination safely. The villagers stepped closer, now waiting less than five feet from the back of the semi as the aforementioned pair of soldiers unhitched the final lock and pulled the container doors open.

Ten more WRO soldiers were revealed to the villagers, the former of which quickly raised their rifles and began to open fire into the thick throng of villagers. Screams filled the air, as the villagers scattered this way and that, but to no avail. Every soldier also opened fire, and the innocents were caught between not one, but _four_ walls of gunfire. Still other soldiers appeared with large cannisters attached to their backs and thick metal hoses in their hands, faces concealed by gas masks. _These_ soldiers used their flamethrowers to set fire to the buildings, even turning the raging flames into the thickest clusters of villagers. Rocket propelled grenades soared through the air to blow apart other buildings, stray shrapnel killing still more people.

One woman had hit her back, sliding backwards and clutching her young daughter, sobbing and begging for mercy. The WRO soldier crept forward slowly, an evil glint in his eye. Without so much as blinking, he aimed the gun at the woman's head, and shot her. The young girl began to sob, trying to urge her mother to wake up. The soldier then turned the gun on the young girl.

Men, women, and children, all were mercilessly slaughtered and left to rot where they fell, the soldiers never seeming to care. After a time, the agent Kyle rounded a corner, to find more of his fellow soldiers surrounding two male villages, each one with bound hands. One of the men was frantic with sobs, as not even three feet away, his wife and son were riddled with bullet holes.

"Is that everyone, then?" Kyle said, removing the WRO red cover and tossing it into a nearby flame.

"All but these two, sir."

Slowly, Kyle eyeballed the two men, who now looked up at him with a sorrow rarely experienced. At a nod, two soldiers bent down, sliced their bonds, then harshly hauled them to their feet and shoved them towards the northern side of the village.

"Go!" Kyle yelled after them. "Tell everyone you meet what happened here, and know just who it was that did it!"

And the two men then ran, and ran as hard and fast as their legs would carry them. They ran by scores of dead, the blood still fresh and warm upon the ground. Loved ones, neighbors, friends, all dead, and all betrayed by the one power they had assumed would keep them safe.

"How many men does it take to deliver a message?" Kyle asked, scratching his chin.

Beside him, a soldier hoisted a large rifle upward, peering through the scope and aligning one of the retreating men's heads with the crosshairs of the scope.

"Only one," The rifle bearing militant snickered.

 _KRA-POW!_


End file.
